Eventhough two strings are same , C# .net core is not identifying as same

Question

I found this issue in asp.net core. I have two strings alpha numeric, all upper cases, and no spaces either in the middle or ends.

I am getting one string from appsettings.json and other assigning locally. When I compare those two strings, the application is showing they are not the same.

string stringFromAppSetting = Configuration.GetValue<string>("AppSettingValue");

string string_Local = "1B4D3A3C8F63DBE";
bool? areTheySame=null;
if (stringFromAppSetting == string_Local )
{
    areTheySame = true;
}
else
{
    areTheySame = false;
}

I also tried stringFromAppSetting.Equals(string_Local). It still shows they are not equal. I used notepad++ to check if they are different but I found that they are same.

Can somebody please suggest the possible cause.

Easiest way is to use for loop, and see what character is not same. — Win, Jul 20 '17 at 22:25
@Doug strings don't have encodings. There is some hidden character probably — FortyTwo, Jul 20 '17 at 22:31
Try `if(stringFromAppSetting.Trim().ToUpper() == string_Local.Trim().ToUpper())` — FortyTwo, Jul 20 '17 at 22:33
@FortyTwo As you can see it is just the string I provided. there is no space or any other ascii value. It is that string — WorkInProgress, Jul 20 '17 at 22:33
are you verifying that you are actually reading the value for stringFromAppSetting? Meaning: are you putting breakpoints and checking the value? — DaniDev, Jul 20 '17 at 22:36
@DaniDev .. yes that is what i am doing . I am doing this because thestring I was receiving from the config file was not being accepted as a secret key. — WorkInProgress, Jul 20 '17 at 22:36
Have you tried a length comparison? Just to double check there is nothing hidden in the middle of that pesky config string. (deleted previous comment as was similar to @FortyTwo) — Jon P, Jul 20 '17 at 22:38
@JonP You are correct. There are 22 characters in the string from appsetting . That means 7 hidden characters — WorkInProgress, Jul 20 '17 at 22:40
Impressive! 7 additional hidden characters in what appears to be a 15 character string. I was expecting one or two, not one-in-two. — Jon P, Jul 20 '17 at 22:44
On a side note, I disagree with the current votes to close on this. Code is provided as much a possible, any issues with the config file would likely be lost in a copy and paste. Also the problem is not due to a typographical error as such. The question may have merit for future readers who have similar issues in config files. — Jon P, Jul 20 '17 at 23:29

WorkInProgress · Answer 1 · 2017-07-20T22:54:24.620

1

Thank you all for your response. For some reason, lot of hidden characters were present when string was received from appsettings.json file.After adding a logic to remove hidden character, it worked like a charm....

Removing hidden characters from within strings

edited Jul 20 '17 at 22:54

answered Jul 20 '17 at 22:47

WorkInProgress

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6
16

2

If you have hidden characters then these are from your appsettings.json file. It is not C# that is adding these chars, it is you – Sir Rufo Jul 20 '17 at 22:50
That might be very true. – WorkInProgress Jul 20 '17 at 22:53
7 additional "hidden" chars where you expect to be 15 chars is really indicating you have choosen the wrong encoding for the file. – Sir Rufo Jul 20 '17 at 22:56
I am not saving the file with special encoding technique. This is a config file in asp.net core project. I am using VS 2017 if that helps. – WorkInProgress Jul 21 '17 at 16:14

Eventhough two strings are same , C# .net core is not identifying as same

1 Answers1