Javascript SyntaxError: illegal character in addEventListener line

Question

I have following simple code (from here) and Firefox 49.0.1 says it has a Syntax Error in the last javascript line:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
</head>
<body>
<script>
    function doit(e) {
        var eventType = e.type;
        console.log("hello");
      var files = e.target.files;
      var reader = new FileReader();
      reader.onload = function() {
        var parsed = new DOMParser().parseFromString(this.result, "text/xml");
        console.log(parsed);
      };
      reader.readAsText(files[0]);
    }

    document.getElementById("selectfile").addEventListener("change", doit, false); // Syntax Error here.
</script>

<input type="file" id="selectfile" />
</body>
</html>

Picture:

I really don´t have a clue whats wrong. I appreciate your help.

check that that's not some invisible/unprintable char on that line, or the lines before. — Marc B
– Marc B, Commented Sep 27, 2016 at 16:00
After the ; on that line, there's a U+200B character you can't see. Put your cursor on that ;, delete it and the spaces and // after it, then type them back in. (I used to see this a lot on JSBin, perhaps you were using JSBin?) — T.J. Crowder
– T.J. Crowder, Commented Sep 27, 2016 at 16:01
You can just delete the question, it's not going to be useful to others in the future. (Well, you can't directly anymore, someone answered and it got upvoted. But you can flag and ask a moderator to.) — T.J. Crowder
– T.J. Crowder, Commented Sep 27, 2016 at 16:02
@T.J.Crowder You get a penalty if you delete a question within 30 days. — Bálint
– Bálint, Commented Sep 27, 2016 at 16:05
@Bálint: Isolated examples are fine. It's repeated ask-and-delete that's an issue. — T.J. Crowder
– T.J. Crowder, Commented Sep 27, 2016 at 16:06

Ava · Accepted Answer · 2016-09-27 16:01:57Z

3

You have the illegal character U+200B after the semicolon on that line. It's a whitespace character, so you can't see it. Just backspace/delete it, and then type a normal space.

See: this JSFiddle highlights the bad character.

answered Sep 27, 2016 at 16:01

Ava

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5 Comments

T.J. Crowder Over a year ago

This is basically a "typo" question. They get commented and deleted rather than answered.

Ava Over a year ago

@T.J.Crowder oh ok. Is there precedent for that? Like, a meta post or something for how to approach it in the future/now?

T.J. Crowder Over a year ago

Somewhere on meta, yeah, this was established years back. :-)

T.J. Crowder Over a year ago

Not a "bad," just something you didn't know. :-)

Ava Over a year ago

For sure. Well, I'll keep that in mind for the next question like this!

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