error: illegal character: '\ufeff' in java

Question

Got this error when compiled java code in ubuntu.

![Got this error][1]

error: illegal character: '\ufeff'

import java.net.*;
^

error: class, interface, or enum expected

import java.net.*;
        ^

Chinoiserie

Looks like a UTF-8 BOM (Byte Order Marker) at the start of the file. That should not be there, just remove it. – Practically

How to remove that ? – Chinoiserie

How did you create the file? Use an editor that does not add the BOM, or configure your editor to not add the BOM when editing UTF-8 – Practically

Answer 1

As Jim Garrison pointed out, you probably have a Byte Order Marker (BOM) at the start of the file. Use an editor that can view all non-printable characters and remove it.

Alternatively, you can use sed to remove it:

sed '1s/^.//' infile >> outfile

Bucharest

Or in vim :set nobomb :wq – Almena

:x is shorter than :wq. :) – Bucharest

if you use intellij right click on file and choose "Remove BOM" – Judaea

Answer 2

If you are using IntelliJ, right click on the class file and select 'Remove BOM'. That should remove the BOM at the start.

Fatwitted

It's strange but sometimes it doesn't work at first so I have first to add BOM and then remove BOM – Stage

Had the same issue with netlify.toml causing a config parsing error on Netlify. This worked, thanks. – Ifni

This is present in the version of the IDE I am currently using under: File -> File Properties -> Remove BOM. IntelliJ version: 242.20224.300 on Mac. – Vins

Answer 3

In case your are working on Windows O.S. and use Eclipse (which don't have the functionality to remove the BOM from the file), just open the file in Notepad++ and in the encoding menu, select "UTF-8", then save the file.

Vaginismus

It is quite possible in eclipse: Just change the encoding of the file to iso (Right click on file - > Properties) and delete the first three BOM characters, save file and reopen it. – Greathearted

Answer 4

If you use Intellij by following tools you can remove this error:

Calefacient

Answer 5

I am using clean and modern looking UI in intellij, I removed BOM by clicking on the bottom right encoding which in my case was UTF-8, and a panel displaying the file encoding list appears, allowing me to easily choose the remove BOM option and proceed with the removal.

Liable

Answer 6

IF you get java: illegal character: '\ufeff' error in java you must remove BOM on the right bottom of IDE Look bottom and right, click UTF-8 and remove BOM click for image

Pavis

Answer 7

Use another editor because it seems to be an eclipse UTF-8-BOM problem. Convert the UTF type UTF-8.

And also I note that ; First it doesn't work for me and I convert the type ANSI and after convert type to UTF-8 format. It can be a another alternative solution for you

Doha

Answer 8

downloading models from https://codebeautify.org/json-to-java-converter is causing such problems.

create new file and copy/paste all data from the downloaded file.

Edea