illegal character error in java

Question

i am trying to read an excel file using java. while compiling the program i am getting error as illegal character. help me to fix this problem. here is the code

import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.*;
import java.util.Iterator;
import org.apache.poi.poifs.filesystem.POIFSFileSystem;
import org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFCell;
import org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFSheet;
import org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFWorkbook;
import org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFRow;



public class Readingexcel {

public static void main(String[] args) {
    try {
         System.out.println("before reading");
        POIFSFileSystem fs = new POIFSFileSystem(new FileInputStream("input.xlsx"));
        HSSFWorkbook wb = new HSSFWorkbook(fs);
        HSSFSheet sheet = wb.getSheet("first");

        HSSFRow row;
        HSSFCell cell;
        String s;

        int rows; // No of rows
        rows = sheet.getPhysicalNumberOfRows();
         System.out.println(rows);
         System.out.println(sheet.getRow(1).getPhysicalNumberOfCells());
        int cols = 0; // No of columns
        int tmp = 0;

// This trick ensures that we get the data properly even if it doesn’t start from first few rows
        for (int i = 0; i < 10 || i < rows; i++) {
            row = sheet.getRow(i);

            if (row != null) {
                tmp = sheet.getRow(i).getPhysicalNumberOfCells();


                if (tmp > cols) {
                    cols = tmp;

                }
            }
        }

        for (int r = 0; r < rows; r++) {
            row = sheet.getRow(r);
            if (row != null) {
                for (int c = 0; c < cols; c++) {
                    cell = row.getCell((short) c);
                    if (cell != null) {
// Your code here
// s = cell.getData();
                       System.out.println(cell.getStringCellValue());


                    }
                }
            }
        }
    } catch (Exception ioe) {
        ioe.printStackTrace();
    }

}
}

while compiling the program am getting error like

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
 (C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.
C:\Documents and Settings\vino>cd C:\Program Files\jdk1.6.0_10\bin

C:\Program Files\jdk1.6.0_10\bin>javac Readingexcel.java
Readingexcel.java:1: illegal character: \187
∩╗┐import java.io.IOException;
^
Readingexcel.java:1: illegal character: \191
∩╗┐import java.io.IOException;
^
2 errors

can anyone help me to fix this problem.

There are some invisible characters in the beginning of your file. If you can't be bothered to fix them, just copy the source into a new file and delete the old file. — kba, Jan 30 '12 at 13:42
Looks like you've got `∩╗┐` in your source... What happens when you open your .java file in notepad? — beny23, Jan 30 '12 at 13:43
@L7ColWinters This is a compile-time error, this has nothing to do with input.xlsx. — kba, Jan 30 '12 at 13:43
Did you cut and pasted the import? maybe there is a unprintable string before import. retype the import somewhere else and delete this line. — UmNyobe, Jan 30 '12 at 13:46
@darsha Naturally, if you create a new file and do CTRL+A, then _everything_ gets copied, even the undesired character. Try to copy everything from the second line to the bottom, and rewrite the first line yourself in a new file. — kba, Jan 30 '12 at 14:02

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 30 '12 at 13:43

5

I am pretty sure that this is BOMs (Byte Order Marks). Make sure you use the correct encoding. Maybe open the file in some other editor and re-save it in order to remove the BOMs. Nodepad ++, for instance, helps you.

Good luck, Max

answered Jan 30 '12 at 13:43

Max

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score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 30 '12 at 13:41

4

What program are you using to edit the source code? It looks like it's inserting a BOM, which javac dislikes. It should be possible to disable the BOM in the editor's settings.

answered Jan 30 '12 at 13:41

Michael Borgwardt

342,105
78
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score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 30 '12 at 13:49

1

Looks like you have a BOM issue. Open your file in a hex editor and remove the first bytes that look strange and come before the first import line.

answered Jan 30 '12 at 13:49

belgther

2,544
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illegal character error in java

3 Answers3