C# - Deserializing xml string, there is an error in xml document (1,2)

Question

I am trying to deserialize a xml string in C# using the following

XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Application));

App = (Application)serializer.Deserialize(xmlString);

It all works well when the xml is pretty printed, but when i have the whole xml in a single line deserializing fails with the error

There is an error in XML document (1, 2). Name cannot begin with the '.' character, hexadecimal value 0x00. Line 1, position 2."

I've checked that the xml is valid as such.

Any one knows what can be done to overcome this problem?

How did you determine that the XML is valid? Clearly, it contains a NULL (0x00) that you can't see. Find out why you can't see it. — John Saunders
– John Saunders, Commented Apr 22, 2011 at 16:24
i copied the string into xml spy and it doesn't complain, it even validates against the schema — user560174
– user560174, Commented Apr 22, 2011 at 16:29
it does not have a <?xml version="1.0"?> tag at the beginning though, but unfortunately i can't do anything about it, nor do i understand why that should be a problem — user560174
– user560174, Commented Apr 22, 2011 at 16:40

Alexei Levenkov · Accepted Answer · 2011-04-22 21:23:44Z

10

Chances are that you loading UTF-16 file as UTF-8 and as result every second character is 0.

If it is true - it could happen if you saved your original XML without BOM (byte order mark) or explicitly using wrong encoding while openeing file...

edited Apr 22, 2011 at 21:23

answered Apr 22, 2011 at 16:23

Alexei Levenkov

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4 Comments

user560174 Over a year ago

i am getting the xml string from a database so i cannot control that, is there a deserialization that can handle UTF-16 as well?

Lasse V. Karlsen Over a year ago

@user560174: How are you getting it from the database, as a string or as a sequence of bytes?

Lasse V. Karlsen Over a year ago

@user: How is the string stored in the database? what datatype is the column?

Alexei Levenkov Over a year ago

Post first several bytes of your "string", so we can confirm the encoding. I'd recommend create XmlReader and explicitly specifying "Unicode" encoding when you read this string as "Bytes".

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