Strange characters appearing in XHTML PHP pages

**StevenHu** · Dec 1, 2009 16:18

Why do these characters appear in my PHP pages:

Sometimes they appear near <?php, yet they don't appear every time <?php is on the page. They usually appear once to a page, but I've seen them next to each other twice in a row on a single page. The characters are not in the original PHP code, but magically appear in the source code.

Puzzled,
Steve H

**crmalibu** · Dec 1, 2009 16:51

Have your text editor save the files as either ansi, or if you want utf8, then choose no byte order mark(BOM).

**StevenHu** · Dec 1, 2009 17:28

Changing it from

charset=iso-8859-1

to

charset=utf-8

has made a slight difference - different characters are showing up (vertical boxes). After a bit of research, I can't figure out how to indicate no BOM. Can you clarify?

Thanks!
Steve H

**paul_wilkins** · Dec 1, 2009 20:38

Take Notepad++ for example.

The editor shows the type of file (ANSI, UTF-8, etc) at the bottom right of the window.

The Format menu allows you to encode the file or convert it as ANSI, UTF-8, UTF-8 without BOM, and other types too.

**StevenHu** · Dec 2, 2009 10:27

Using the encode without BOM works great! Thank you, guys!

Regards,
Steve H

**StevenHu** · Dec 4, 2009 16:55

Oops, a bit premature. Still shows strange characters when PHP is used. Shows a vertical box, like a page, but small.

**paul_wilkins** · Dec 4, 2009 17:02

How might we experience this problem too, so that we can come up with a solution for you.

**StevenHu** · Dec 4, 2009 17:04

Originally Posted by pmw57

How might we experience this problem too, so that we can come up with a solution for you.

Go to this page in your iPhone or iPod touch:
www.rc10.com/mobile

Click on Team Associated
Click on New Products

You'll see the figures at top.

Thanks!
Steve H

**paul_wilkins** · Dec 4, 2009 17:11

I don't know if this is related, but between the <body> and the google script, there are some strange characters appearing.

**StevenHu** · Dec 4, 2009 17:14

Originally Posted by pmw57

I don't know if this is related, but between the <body> and the google script, there are some strange characters appearing.

Yet the strange characters are not in the original documents!

**paul_wilkins** · Dec 4, 2009 17:21

They will be there. The web page doesn't just create them out of thin air.
It's just that your editor is not currently capable of seeing them.

**StevenHu** · Dec 4, 2009 17:30

If I highlight the characters off the screen and copy them, then open the PHP documents, including the "include" documents, and do a search, they don't appear. Maybe if I squeeze a bit of lemon juice over them, maybe the words will magically appear! LOL

Here's a portion of the google script. Could these characters inadvertently form the strange characters?

type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"

Thanks!
Steve H

**paul_wilkins** · Dec 4, 2009 17:58

Originally Posted by StevenHu

Here's a portion of the google script. Could these characters inadvertently form the strange characters?

type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"

No, they won't be responsible.

Do you want do put up a cut-down version of the parts involved, and upload them to box.net - then we can look at the actual files including their character encoding and advise you on how best to resolve this.

If you can also let is know the editor that you are using, we can also advise you on how to control it (if possible) to prevent further occurrences.

**StevenHu** · Dec 4, 2009 18:03

I am using iWebKit 4.6.2 for the Javascript functions that make it function like an iPhone.

I used to make the pages in Microsoft Expression web. Now I'm using Notepad++.

I'll look into Box.net Monday and see what I can do.

Thanks!
Steve H

**StevenHu** · Dec 7, 2009 12:58

Okay, the file is in Box.net:

[deleted]

Of course, the file, database, and field names have been changed for protection. Post #8 shows navigation to the page.

Thanks!

**paul_wilkins** · Dec 7, 2009 13:07

It's happening right at the place where the include.php file is being included.
Aside from the fact that you really should be using require_once instead of include, I would look at the include.php file as the cause of the problem.

**StevenHu** · Dec 7, 2009 13:14

Strange ... It's the common connection script with server, username, and password.

Also has an include script for a Google analytics page which includes Javascript. But none of those characters are on either page.

**paul_wilkins** · Dec 7, 2009 13:23

Originally Posted by StevenHu

Strange ... It's the common connection script with server, username, and password.

Also has an include script for a Google analytics page which includes Javascript. But none of those characters are on either page.

They will be there - if you wish to, add those two files (with sensitive parts removed) to box.net and I'll investigate for you.

**StevenHu** · Dec 7, 2009 13:25

I'll have to stop here. I don't think the company will approve.

Thanks for your help, though!

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