Deserializing xml feed fails invalid hexadecimal character

Question

I've read a few other posts on this, but I'm not able to achieve what I'm looking to do.

• XML deserialization fail

Here's my current method for deserializing data

public static T Deserialize<T>(string serializedString)
{
    using (Stream s = new MemoryStream(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(serializedString)))
    {
        var serXml = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));
        T item = (T)serXml.Deserialize(s);
        return item;
    }
}

The problem is that I'm getting an invalid character failure.

System.Xml.XmlException: '', hexadecimal value 0x0B, is an invalid character.

I have no control over the vimeo feed, so I need to be able to appropriately deserialize the string on my end. Am I missing something silly?

note: I have been looking into XmlTextReader, but I've read that it shouldn't be used.

EDIT

---

Here's the XML as formatted from Vimeo contained in the serializedString parameter

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<videos>
    <!-- hacked out a few videos from when they worked.
         StackOverflow was complaining about the length of the post -->
<video><id>35524605</id><title>A Year of Success: Work</title><description>Series: A Year of Success&lt;br /&gt;
Sermon: Work&lt;br /&gt;
Speaker: Geoff Heth&lt;br /&gt;
Scripture: John 13&lt;br /&gt;
Date: January 21 &amp; 22, 2012</description><url>http://vimeo.com/35524605</url><upload_date>2012-01-23 14:10:00</upload_date><mobile_url>http://vimeo.com/m/35524605</mobile_url><thumbnail_small>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/242/906/242906651_100.jpg</thumbnail_small><thumbnail_medium>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/242/906/242906651_200.jpg</thumbnail_medium><thumbnail_large>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/242/906/242906651_640.jpg</thumbnail_large><user_name>RockPointe Church</user_name><user_url>http://vimeo.com/rockpointe</user_url><user_portrait_small>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/196/827/1968276_30.jpg</user_portrait_small><user_portrait_medium>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/196/827/1968276_75.jpg</user_portrait_medium><user_portrait_large>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/196/827/1968276_100.jpg</user_portrait_large><user_portrait_huge>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/196/827/1968276_300.jpg</user_portrait_huge><stats_number_of_likes>0</stats_number_of_likes><stats_number_of_plays>60</stats_number_of_plays><stats_number_of_comments>0</stats_number_of_comments><duration>2227</duration><width>1280</width><height>720</height><tags>a year of success, work, geoff heth, john 13, january 21, january 22</tags><embed_privacy>anywhere</embed_privacy></video><video><id>35149699</id><title>A Year of Success: Spirituality</title><description>Series: A Year of Success&lt;br /&gt;
Sermon: Spirituality&lt;br /&gt;
Speaker: Tim Moore&lt;br /&gt;
Scripture: John 15&lt;br /&gt;
Date: January 14 &amp; 15, 2012</description><url>http://vimeo.com/35149699</url><upload_date>2012-01-16 12:38:23</upload_date><mobile_url>http://vimeo.com/m/35149699</mobile_url><thumbnail_small>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/239/968/239968893_100.jpg</thumbnail_small><thumbnail_medium>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/239/968/239968893_200.jpg</thumbnail_medium><thumbnail_large>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/239/968/239968893_640.jpg</thumbnail_large><user_name>RockPointe Church</user_name><user_url>http://vimeo.com/rockpointe</user_url><user_portrait_small>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/196/827/1968276_30.jpg</user_portrait_small><user_portrait_medium>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/196/827/1968276_75.jpg</user_portrait_medium><user_portrait_large>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/196/827/1968276_100.jpg</user_portrait_large><user_portrait_huge>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/196/827/1968276_300.jpg</user_portrait_huge><stats_number_of_likes>0</stats_number_of_likes><stats_number_of_plays>43</stats_number_of_plays><stats_number_of_comments>0</stats_number_of_comments><duration>2871</duration><width>1280</width><height>720</height><tags>a year of success, spirituality, tim moore, john 15, january 15, January 14</tags><embed_privacy>anywhere</embed_privacy></video><video><id>34789964</id><title>A Year of Success: Relationships</title><description>Series: A Year of Success&lt;br /&gt;
Sermon: Relationships&lt;br /&gt;
Speaker: Ron Gray&lt;br /&gt;
Scripture: John 13:34,35&lt;br /&gt;
Date: January 7 &amp; 8, 2012</description><url>http://vimeo.com/34789964</url><upload_date>2012-01-09 11:15:53</upload_date><mobile_url>http://vimeo.com/m/34789964</mobile_url><thumbnail_small>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/237/215/237215947_100.jpg</thumbnail_small><thumbnail_medium>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/237/215/237215947_200.jpg</thumbnail_medium><thumbnail_large>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/237/215/237215947_640.jpg</thumbnail_large><user_name>RockPointe Church</user_name><user_url>http://vimeo.com/rockpointe</user_url><user_portrait_small>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/196/827/1968276_30.jpg</user_portrait_small><user_portrait_medium>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/196/827/1968276_75.jpg</user_portrait_medium><user_portrait_large>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/196/827/1968276_100.jpg</user_portrait_large><user_portrait_huge>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/196/827/1968276_300.jpg</user_portrait_huge><stats_number_of_likes>0</stats_number_of_likes><stats_number_of_plays>76</stats_number_of_plays><stats_number_of_comments>0</stats_number_of_comments><duration>2128</duration><width>1280</width><height>720</height><tags>John 13, January 7, January 8, A year of success, relationships, ron gray</tags><embed_privacy>anywhere</embed_privacy></video><video><id>33914231</id><title>When God Broke In: The Shepherds</title><description>Series: When God Broke In&lt;br /&gt;
Sermon: The Shepherds&lt;br /&gt;
Speaker: Geoff Heth&lt;br /&gt;
Scripture: Luke 2:8-20&lt;br /&gt;
Date: December 17 &amp; 18&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
BIG IDEA:God again announces His love for all of us and gives us hope for the future.</description><url>http://vimeo.com/33914231</url><upload_date>2011-12-19 11:14:25</upload_date><mobile_url>http://vimeo.com/m/33914231</mobile_url><thumbnail_small>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/230/541/230541509_100.jpg</thumbnail_small><thumbnail_medium>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/230/541/230541509_200.jpg</thumbnail_medium><thumbnail_large>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/230/541/230541509_640.jpg</thumbnail_large><user_name>RockPointe Church</user_name><user_url>http://vimeo.com/rockpointe</user_url><user_portrait_small>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/196/827/1968276_30.jpg</user_portrait_small><user_portrait_medium>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/196/827/1968276_75.jpg</user_portrait_medium><user_portrait_large>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/196/827/1968276_100.jpg</user_portrait_large><user_portrait_huge>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/196/827/1968276_300.jpg</user_portrait_huge><stats_number_of_likes>0</stats_number_of_likes><stats_number_of_plays>87</stats_number_of_plays><stats_number_of_comments>0</stats_number_of_comments><duration>2076</duration><width>1280</width><height>720</height><tags>When God Broke In, Shepherds, Geoff Heth, Luke, December 17, December 18</tags><embed_privacy>anywhere</embed_privacy></video><video><id>33540401</id><title>When God Broke In: Mary &amp; Joseph</title><description>Series: When God Broke In&lt;br /&gt;
Sermon: Mary &amp; Joseph&lt;br /&gt;
Speaker: Ron Gray&lt;br /&gt;
Scripture: Luke 1:26-38; Matthew 1:18-25&lt;br /&gt;
Date: December 10 &amp; 11, 2011</description><url>http://vimeo.com/33540401</url><upload_date>2011-12-12 11:26:54</upload_date><mobile_url>http://vimeo.com/m/33540401</mobile_url><thumbnail_small>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/227/715/227715871_100.jpg</thumbnail_small><thumbnail_medium>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/227/715/227715871_200.jpg</thumbnail_medium><thumbnail_large>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/227/715/227715871_640.jpg</thumbnail_large><user_name>RockPointe Church</user_name><user_url>http://vimeo.com/rockpointe</user_url><user_portrait_small>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/196/827/1968276_30.jpg</user_portrait_small><user_portrait_medium>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/196/827/1968276_75.jpg</user_portrait_medium><user_portrait_large>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/196/827/1968276_100.jpg</user_portrait_large><user_portrait_huge>http://b.vimeocdn.com/ps/196/827/1968276_300.jpg</user_portrait_huge><stats_number_of_likes>0</stats_number_of_likes><stats_number_of_plays>47</stats_number_of_plays><stats_number_of_comments>0</stats_number_of_comments><duration>2119</duration><width>1280</width><height>720</height><tags>When God Broke In, Mary, Joseph, Ron Gray, Luke, Matthew, December 10, December 11</tags><embed_privacy>anywhere</embed_privacy></video><video><id>33168687</id><title>When God Broke In: Zechariah</title><description>Series: When God Broke In&lt;br /&gt;
Sermon: Zechariah&lt;br /&gt;
Speaker: Erik McRitchie&lt;br /&gt;
Scripture: Luke 1:5-25, 57-80&lt;br /&gt;
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Sermon: Kingdom Rules pt. 3&lt;br /&gt;
Speaker: Ron Gray, Brian Delamont&lt;br /&gt;
Scripture: Romans 14-15&lt;br /&gt;
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Sermon: Kingdom Rules pt. 2&lt;br /&gt;
Speaker: Ron Gray, Brian Delamont&lt;br /&gt;
Scripture: Romans 14-15&lt;br /&gt;
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Sermon: Kingdom Rules&lt;br /&gt;
Speaker: Ron Gray, Brian Delamont&lt;br /&gt;
Scripture: Romans 14-15&lt;br /&gt;
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Sermon: Submission&lt;br /&gt;
Speaker: Jason Koleba&lt;br /&gt;
Scripture: Romans 13&lt;br /&gt;
Date: November 19 &amp; 20, 2011&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
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Sermon: We Are Family&lt;br /&gt;
Speaker: Brent Sellers&lt;br /&gt;
Scripture: Romans 12&lt;br /&gt;
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Sermon: Good News for Everyone&lt;br /&gt;
Speaker: Dennis &amp; Dorrie Hansen, and Rebecca Trask&lt;br /&gt;
Scripture: Romans 10&lt;br /&gt;
Date: November 6, 2011&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The BIG idea: Nothing can separate us from the love of God. &lt;br /&gt;
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Answer 1

The XML you posted looks fine; you either "hacked out" the character that is causing the problem, or you posted a sanitized version of serializedString.

XML is required to contain only printable characters, and 0x0B is not printable, so your serXml.Deserialize is doing the right thing. You have to find the non-printable characters and decide what to do with them. Something like:

using (var sr = new MemoryStream(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(serializedString)))
{
    int line = 0;
    string s;
    while ((s = sr.ReadLine()) != null)
    {
        line++;
        for (int i = 0; i < s.Length; i++)
        {
            char c = s[i];
            if (char.IsControl(c))
                Console.WriteLine("Line " + line + ", char " + i + " is invalid char " + (int)c);
        }
    }
}

will show what characters of serializedString are bad. Whatever you're getting serializedString from has to be fixed.