Why do I get an CS1056 Unexpected character '' on this code

Question

I'm getting this unexpected character '' error and I don't understand why.

var list = new List<MyModel>();    
list.Add(new MyModel() {
    variable1 = 942,
    variable2 = 2001,
    variable3 = "my text",
    variable4   = 123
}); // CS1056 Unexpected character ''  on this line

score 58 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 23 '15 at 02:25

58

From what the error says and the actual error code I got from an Online compiler after copy/pasting, Your code on this line contains a character that is not visible but that the compiler is trying to interpret. Simply try erase every character starting at your closing bracket towards your number 3 and press Enter again It should be working (it did work for me)

answered Jul 23 '15 at 02:25

Daneau

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Interesting. My VS/Resharper/something else removed that when I pasted it in the VS. Good catch. – jdphenix Jul 23 '15 at 02:26
2

@GrantWinney A "zero width space" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-width_space may explain why it ended up in code if it was from the interwebz – jdphenix Jul 23 '15 at 02:44
@Daneau, thanks for your help. I re-typed everything which solved this error message. Can kick myself for overlooking something so simple and keep thinking there must be something wrong with the syntax. ;-) – RedHawk Jul 23 '15 at 21:04
Copy your code and paste it on MS Word. Then you will see the bad character. – Koray Mar 10 '17 at 10:03
I deleted the `obj` folder of the project and then everything compiled successfully. The reported file for me was `NetStandard[something].cs` but no file like that was present in either the AppData\Local\Temp directory nor in the `obj` folder. Not sure what it was. – alelom Jul 20 '22 at 19:49

score 53 · Answer 2 · edited Aug 07 '18 at 12:16

53

I just deleted the file Version=v4.0.AssemblyAttributes.cs(1,1,1,1) located in my temp folder C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Local\Temp and then it works perfectly.

For .NET Core you have to delete .NETCoreApp,Version=v2.1.AssemblyAttributes.cs

edited Aug 07 '18 at 12:16

Antoine V

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answered Jan 30 '18 at 06:22

Guilhermlimma

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You need to delete the file that matches your .NET version e.g. `.NETFramework,Version=v4.5.1.AssemblyAttributes`, `.NETFramework,Version=v4.6.1.AssemblyAttributes` – Chris Halcrow Nov 14 '18 at 01:09
6

Just had the same issue. For me, the file to delete was in the `obj` folder of the project – Kristoffer Lerbæk Pedersen Jul 04 '21 at 23:42
1

Confirm that I deleted the `obj` folder of the project and then everything compiled successfully. The reported file for me was `NetStandard[something].cs` but no file like that was present in either the AppData\Local\Temp directory nor in the `obj` folder. Not sure what it was. – alelom Jul 20 '22 at 19:48

Eliahu Aaron · Answer 3 · 2020-07-14T14:01:21.103

18

As mentioned by Daneau in the accepted answer, the problem is by a character that is not visible in the IDE.

Here are several solutions to find the invisible character with Notepad++.

Solutions 1: Show Symbol

Copy the code to Notepad++,
Select View -> Show Symbol -> Show All Characters

This can show invisible control characters.

Solutions 2: Convert to ANSI

Copy the code to Notepad++,
Select Encoding- > Convert to ANSI

This will convert the invisible character to ? if it is a none ANSI character.

Solutions 3: Remove none ASCII characters

Copy the code to Notepad++,
Open the Find window (Ctrl+F)
Select the Replace tab
in "Find what" write: [^\x00-\x7F]
Leave "Replace with" empty
In "Search Mode" select "Regular expression"
Find and remove the none ASCII characters

This will remove none ASCII characters.

Note: This can remove valid non ASCII characters (in strings and comments) so try to skip those if you have any.

Tip: Use HEX-Editor plugin

Use Notepad++ HEX-Editor plugin to see the binary code of text. Any character out of the range of 0x00 - 0x7F (0 - 127) is a non ASCII character and a suspect of being the problem.

edited Jul 14 '20 at 14:01

answered Jul 02 '20 at 13:17

Eliahu Aaron

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Solution 2 fixed it for me. I suspect the issue appeared as a result from some git action I did in Visual Studio Code. Something blinked in the code, and I don't know what exactly happened but I had a nagging feeling something had changed without me knowing what exactly. Then when I ran it in the browser, this error was there. – awe Sep 14 '21 at 09:17
1

Visual Studio also has a built in hex editor. Use "Open With..." (either from right-clicking the file in the solution explorer; or from the Open dialog (Ctrl+O) clicking the small triangle on the Open button), and then pick **Binary editor**. – Jeppe Stig Nielsen Nov 11 '21 at 12:29
I deleted the `obj` folder of the project and then everything compiled successfully. The reported file for me was `NetStandard[something].cs` but no file like that was present in either the AppData\Local\Temp directory nor in the `obj` folder. Not sure what it was. – alelom Jul 20 '22 at 19:49

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered May 30 '19 at 20:15

Just reporting my direct experience. As Daneau wrote, I had a character (ASCII DLE, I copied while messing up a zebra printer) hiding in the text. I could not afford to rewrite everything, so I used notepad++ "View->Show Symbol->Show All Characters" feature. I apologize for not commenting Daneau entry, but I don't have enough reputation.

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 23 '19 at 10:24

2

go to C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Temp\ and clear the data or remove the file specified in the error, that will solve the issue.

VS will add the required file on auto, no worries.

answered Jul 23 '19 at 10:24

sami ullah

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score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Aug 15 '21 at 09:34

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I got this error when I moved my application from one folder to another, I resolved this by deleting the Debug folder inside the obj folder.

answered Aug 15 '21 at 09:34

user1947393

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score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Sep 27 '18 at 06:58

1

Write the code again without copying it. That worked for me

answered Sep 27 '18 at 06:58

lakshitha gayan

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score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Jan 07 '20 at 14:06

It indeed has to do with copy pasting code and characters that you cannot see. The easiest way to fix it is by passing your copy pasted code into a note application or simple text program which will automatically remove these invisible characters. After that simply copy the code from the text editor and paste it into your IDE.

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Jan 05 '23 at 14:23

0

For some reason this happened to me on every project in my solution. My fix was to delete all bin and obj folders in my solution.

answered Jan 05 '23 at 14:23

DLeh

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Why do I get an CS1056 Unexpected character '' on this code

9 Answers9

Solutions 1: Show Symbol

Solutions 2: Convert to ANSI

Solutions 3: Remove none ASCII characters

Tip: Use HEX-Editor plugin

Linked