How do I remove  from the beginning of a file?

Question

I have a CSS file that looks fine when I open it using gedit, but when it\'s read by PHP (to merge all the CSS files into one), this CSS has the following characters prepend

Answer 1

I had the same problem with the BOM appearing in some of my PHP files ().

If you use PhpStorm you can set at hotkey to remove it in Settings -> IDE Settings -> Keymap -> Main Menu - > File -> Remove BOM.

Answer 2

1. Copy the text of your filename.css file.
2. Close your css file.
3. Rename it filename2.css to avoid a filename clash.
4. In MS Notepad or Wordpad, create a new file.
5. Paste the text into it.
6. Save it as filename.css, selecting UTF-8 from the encoding options.
7. Upload filename.css.

Answer 3

This works for me!

def removeBOMs(fileName):
     BOMs = ['',#Bytes as CP1252 characters
    'þÿ',
    'ÿþ',
    '^@^@þÿ',
    'ÿþ^@^@',
    '+/v',
    '÷dL',
    'Ýsfs',
    'Ýsfs',
    '^Nþÿ',
    'ûî(',
    '„1•3']
     inputFile = open(fileName, 'r')
     contents = inputFile.read()
     for BOM in BOMs:
         if not BOM in contents:#no BOM in the file...
             pass
         else:
             newContents = contents.replace(BOM,'', 1)
             newFile = open(fileName, 'w')
             newFile.write(newContents)
             return None

Answer 4

BOM is just a sequence of characters ($EF $BB $BF for UTF-8), so just remove them using scripts or configure the editor so it's not added.

From Removing BOM from UTF-8:

#!/usr/bin/perl
@file=<>;
$file[0] =~ s/^\xEF\xBB\xBF//;
print(@file);

I am sure it translates to PHP easily.

Answer 5

In Notepad++, choose the "Encoding" menu, then "Encode in UTF-8 without BOM". Then save.

See Stack Overflow question How to make Notepad to save text in UTF-8 without BOM?.

Answer 6

You can open it by PhpStorm and right-click on your file and click on Remove BOM...