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XML declaration

An XML file begins with an XML declaration, containing the XML version and the encoding information. For example,

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

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16" ?>

If you create an XML document in Notepad, the file can be saved in UTF-8 or UTF-16 file format. If no declaration appears, UTF-8 format is assumed. If you save the file in Notepad with Encoding=Unicode, be sure the declaration at the top of the XML file specifies encoding="UTF-16".

Tip:

Notepad's Unicode file type corresponds to UTF-16 file format.

For files containing strings in English or other Latin-based languages, UTF-8 is recommended to reduce the size of the XML file. For other languages, such as Chinese, Japanese, or Korean, UTF-16 is recommended.

You must specifically save as the desired encoding in Notepad. The default is to save to ANSI, and that format will not import properly.

See also

About XML (Extensible Markup Language)

Graphic display XML file elements and attributes

Graphic display XML schema

Example: Graphic display XML file