octal instead of hex

[Skaperen]

i can convert binary characters to a literal text form with ascii() (repr() in py2) but it converts most characters to a hexadecimal escape form like '\x00\xff', with simpler control characters like newline converted to '\n'. but i want the octal escape form, like '\000\377'. this form can be used in source code literals. is there a function like ascii() that can give the octal form for bytes in range(256) (ok if it gives control escapes like '\n' for control characters like chr(10) instead of '\012')? i am hoping that i don't need to construct the result myself with a bunch of oct() calls.