XmlWriter putting strange chars at start of doc

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I'm using an XmlWriter but everytime I create a document it is putting these three strange characters at the beginning of my document:

ï»¿</b><?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

Has anyone else seen this and/or know how to fix it?!?!?!

Posted 3-Feb-10 10:05am

John242424

Updated 4-Feb-10 0:02am

#realJSOP

v3

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Richard MacCutchan · Answer 1 · 2010-02-03T23:09:00

Solution 4

John242424 wrote:
ï»¿</b><?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

These are the UTF-8 prefix characters 0xEF,0xBB,0xBF which tells anyone reading the file how to decode it. Note that UTF-8 is NOT Unicode.

Posted 3-Feb-10 23:09pm

Richard MacCutchan

Updated 3-Feb-10 23:10pm

v2

Richard MacCutchan · Answer 2 · 2010-02-04T05:06:00

John242424 wrote:
When I changed encoding to Unicode, these chars are gone.

Be aware that Unicode also uses prefix characters (0xFF 0xFE) to identify the encoding. In either case (UTF-8 or Unicode) if you are reading/writing with the correct C#/.NET classes you don't need to worry about this as the framework will manage it correctly for you. If you are writing your own reader/writer then make sure you manage the encoding keys correctly.

Kent Sharkey · Answer 3 · 2010-02-03T10:25:00

Solution 2

They are the markers used to identify the fact that the file is stored in ~~Unicode, and the byte order~~ UTF-8. (( So, they should be there ))

Posted 3-Feb-10 10:25am

Kent Sharkey

Updated 4-Feb-10 0:39am

v2

Toli Cuturicu · Answer 4 · 2010-02-03T10:10:00

Solution 1

It is normal. Leave that characters alone. They are meant to be there.

Posted 3-Feb-10 10:10am

Toli Cuturicu

ragnaroknrol · Answer 5 · 2010-02-03T10:59:00

I think you are referring to

ï»¿

in your question.

Did you try to bold the 3 characters (</b> is sitting there all alone and Pre tags aren't working for more, nor are bolds, so I think this might be true.)

I am trying to make sure the question gets answered correctly because I don't think it was asked in such a way that you would get the answer you need.

ragnaroknrol · Answer 6 · 2010-02-05T10:47:00

I suggest you place this as its own separate question.

Since this has been answered by several people the chances that someone with the expertise to help you will read this go down. Having follow-up questions is not a strength of this system.

Make a new quick answer with the data you just put in. I am sure someone will be able to assist you. I'm just learning datasets myself so I can't really give you any guidance.