remove utf-8 bom with javascript

remove-utf8-bom.js

// remove utf-8 BOM from ressource "res"
// res.charCodeAt(0) === 0xFEFF | res.charCodeAt(0) === 65279 
if (res.charCodeAt(0) === 0xFEFF) {
  res = res.substr(1);
}

Thank you. This was the final solution to hours of frustration.

Seconded. What a nightmare, thank you so much for sharing this.

one-liner alternative

res = res.replace(/^\uFEFF/gm, "");

or better yet:

res = res.replace(/^\uFEFF/gm, "").replace(/^\u00BB\u00BF/gm,"");

What is the second one for?

up

What is the second one for?

@Darker those are the BOM representation in excel files (»¿), or at least part of it.
As far as I know the full output is , so the regex should be

res = res.replace(/^\uFEFF/g, "").replace(/^\u00EF?\u00BB\u00BF/g,"");

one-liner alternative

res = res.replace(/^\uFEFF/gm, "");

A BOM only exists at the beginning of the file. This regex replaces it at the beginning of every line. Unlikely to matter, but it is incorrect.

A BOM only exists at the beginning of the file. This regex replaces it at the beginning of every line. Unlikely to matter, but it is incorrect.

Omitting both the g and m flags would solve this, I guess: res = res.replace(/^\uFEFF/, "");

@michabaur yes that's true. Why don't you just use my version. Substring is faster than regular expressions. One line more or less doesn't change anything. In development there are many empty heads who always think they know something better. I don't mean you, but you don't have to look far.

@cescoallegrini Editing office documents with js is a pain in the ass.

@eladkarako I think you dont know what you do.

@antic183 I agree. In my deployment tool chain it lends itself to doing this in an ant replaceregexp task. So I go the regex way ;-)

Thanks a whole lot for this. Can be a bit mystifying when you first encounter a problem caused by this char. Excellent solution.

@michabaur yes that's true. Why don't you just use my version. Substring is faster than regular expressions. One line more or less doesn't change anything. In development there are many empty heads who always think they know something better. I don't mean you, but you don't have to look far.

@cescoallegrini Editing office documents with js is a pain in the ass.

@eladkarako I think you dont know what you do.

One has nothing to lose to be friendly or to not be unfriendly.

@ianthedev
I could have phrased the comment to "cescoallegrini" and "eladkarako" more nicely, I agree with you. But it is simply a fact that many developers always think they know something better and this is often unjustified. Whoever gives it out must also be able to take it. And there are also many developers who sell themselves beyond their worth. Unfortunately, I have experienced this too often. In my opinion, the worst thing about it is that false information is shared and beginners learn the wrong thing.