#87 Parse Error: Content is not allowed in prolog

[Caio Cezar Silva]

Hey there Jason, it's me again

I was running Hypernomicon as usual yesterday and turned off my note. As I turned it on today and tried to run the software, I received the following error: "Parse Error: Content is not allowed in prolog".

Do you have any idea of what could've caused it? At this point I'm considering to unistall and reinstall again, but I'm afraid to lose my files in the current version. What do you suggest?

[Jason Winning]

What is in the file when you open it in Notepad++? Open the file in Notepad++ and go to View -> Show Symbol -> Show all characters. Normally an XML file should start with an open angle bracket; the first line should look like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

The error is saying that there is something different at the beginning of the file. I hope it is not the dreaded null character again! As before, I don't think this can be caused simply by a bug in Hypernomicon. If this is another case of file corruption, then here are some questions to consider:

• You say you turned off your computer while you were in the middle of using Hypernomicon. Instead of doing that you should first quit out of the application, and shut down the computer after that (also wait for any files to sync if you use OneDrive/Dropbox/etc.).
• Do you use an Antivirus application or something that maintains Backups in the background? There are cases where those can interfere with files saving (not specifically with Hypernomicon but in general).
• Do you have any issues with files getting corrupted outside of Hypernomicon? That could also point to file system or disk corruption
• There are documented cases where null characters can get inserted while saving an XML file if the computer experiences a loss of power while saving. Always make sure to shutdown your computer using operating system menus/commands rather than abruptly cutting power to it, and don't allow the battery to go dead while Hypernomicon is running: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/49260358/what-could-cause-an-xml-file-to-be-filled-with-null-characters

[Caio Cezar Silva]

Unfortunately it seems to be a null character occurrence. I tried to see if the corruption have damaged other files and the answer is positive.

On the questions and notes you've mentioned, I believe the problem is the last one. It is not uncommon here where I live that one day or another we have very brief power surges where the light goes off for a few seconds and then it comes back. Since my notebook is somewhat old, as soon as it happens it shuts down. Although I always save my most recent progress, the scenario where the application is running and the power surge suddenly shuts it off is somewhat common. If this is the case, is there any way to recover the data?

Edit.: I gave a look for possible solutions but, as far as my abilities go, it seems that restoring the data is the only viable solution. As I restored the app worked as usual once again.

[Jason Winning]

Sorry to hear about your electricity problems. I hope you can invest in a new battery for your computer! Or perhaps a UPS (uninterruptible power supply). Closing the ticket since the problem was externally caused.