Skip to main content

java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Malformed \uxxxx encoding

I was getting this exception during build while running ant. Googling didn't help much and I was flummoxed because the same code was running fine till now.

My code reads a text file and does some operations on the basis of values read. It was only when I saw the text files I understood the error. I had copied the text in wordpad and saved it as .txt file. Wordpad had put lot of formatting information before and after the content. Also there was "\par" after every line, which was giving this error.

So moral of the story: if you get this exception check your properties file (or any other file that your code might be reading.)
Labels:

Comments

Jesus M Movilla said…
I have the same problem but apparently the text file is fine, how can I check if there are some undesirable characters in it?

Thanks a lot!
6:36 AM
Waterfox said…
Try to open the file in vim editor or any other UTF-8 enabled text editor.
7:49 AM
Jesus M Movilla said…
Solved!
It was a "\u" in a property value...

Thanks!
7:51 AM
GIRISH said…
Hi,
i'm Getting the same while loading the file...
here is the code:
FileInputStream MyInputStream = new FileInputStream(new File("Defaultprop.pref"));
myProps.load(MyInputStream);

please Help Me Out With This..

Thanks a Lot
3:20 AM
GIRISH said…
Hi,
Even I'm gettin same error while loadin the file... here is the code:
FileInputStream MyInputStream = new FileInputStream(new File("Defaultprop.pref"));

myProps.load( new FileInputStream("Defaultprop.pref"));

Please Help out to get rid of this ;0
3:27 AM
Waterfox said…
The same advice that I gave to previous question. Please check your .pref file in vim or any other UTF-8 enabled text editor to see if there is any unwanted characters in the file.
10:17 PM
Luke said…
Thanks for posting this. Saved me a ton of time. Had this problem intermittently in a build file. The build.properties file would have been one of the last places I'd have thought to look. Ended up being an unescaped "\" in my build.properties file.
8:03 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Changing Eclipse Workspace Directory

Recently I moved my entire Eclipse installation directory but the workspace was still getting created in the older location only. And worst there was no option to select the Workspace directory in the Window->Options->Workspace menu. To change the workspace location in Eclipse do this. Goto ECLIPSE_HOME\configuration\.settings directory, edit the org.eclipse.ui.ide.prefs file and change the RECENT_WORKSPACES value to the desired location. If you want that Eclipse prompts you to select workspace when you start it, change the SHOW_WORKSPACE_SELECTION_DIALOG value to true. And you are done!
10 comments
Read more

How to upload to Google Cloud Storage buckets using CURL

Signed URLs are pretty nifty feature given by Google Cloud Platform to let anyone access your cloud storage (bucket or any file in the bucket) without need to sign in. Official documentation gives step by step details as to how to read/write to the bucket using gsutil or through a program. This article will tell you how to upload a file to the bucket using curl so that any client which doesn't have cloud SDK installed can do this using a simple script. This command creates a signed PUT URL for your bucket. gsutil signurl -c 'text/plain' -m PUT serviceAccount.json gs://test_bucket_location Here is my URL: https://storage.googleapis.com/test_sl?GoogleAccessId=my-project-id@appspot.gserviceaccount.com&Expires=1490266627&Signature=UfKBNHWtjLKSBEcUQUKDeQtSQV6YCleE9hGG%2BCxVEjDOmkDxwkC%2BPtEg63pjDBHyKhVOnhspP1%2FAVSr%2B%2Fty8Ps7MSQ0lM2YHkbPeqjTiUcAfsbdcuXUMbe3p8FysRUFMe2dSikehBJWtbYtjb%2BNCw3L09c7fLFyAoJafIcnoIz7iJGP%2Br6gAUkSnZXgbVjr6wjN%2FIaudXIqA...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hands on review: Yahoo! Mail app for Windows 8

Before you start mocking me for using Yahoo! Mail, let me explain that this is NOT my primary mail account and I use Gmail and Outlook.com for my daily use. Yes, this Yahoo! account was once my daily haunt but that was during college days and those days are long gone. I don't use Yahoo! Mail much but still there are some group subscriptions and I just log in once in a while to see what's happening in those forgotten groups. And due to this reason, I have always kept track of changes in Yahoo! Mail and the fact is that you can blame them for everything but not really lack of trying. Though most of those tries just ended up cluttering the UI and adding somewhat needless features. However, now we hear that new CEO Marissa Mayer is focusing once again on the mail and first major product to come out is Yahoo! Mail app for Windows 8. So how is it? The Login screen is pretty neat and purple background with an envelope watermark is very pleasing, very Yahoo!. However why ...
7 comments
Read more