Python UnicodeDecodeError：'utf-8' 无法解码字节 0x81

Question

I am trying to use arelle to read a zip file of an XBRL filling.

This is done by giving the command:

C:\a>python arelleCmdLine.py -f C:\Python33\sec\2010\03\0000002809-0001047469-10
-002778-xbrl.zip

I am getting a UnicodeDecodeError

C:\a>python arelleCmdLine.py -f C:\Python33\sec\2010\03\0000002809-0001047469-10
-002778-xbrl.zip
[xmlSchema:syntax] Unrecoverable error: 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0x81 in
position 11: invalid start byte, 0000002809-0001047469-10-002778-xbrl.zip, impor
ting source element - 0000002809-0001047469-10-002778-xbrl.zip
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\a\arelle\ModelDocument.py", line 131, in load
    xmlDocument = etree.parse(file,parser=_parser,base_url=filepath)
  File "lxml.etree.pyx", line 3239, in lxml.etree.parse (src\lxml\lxml.etree.c:6
9970)
  File "parser.pxi", line 1770, in lxml.etree._parseDocument (src\lxml\lxml.etre
e.c:102272)
  File "parser.pxi", line 1790, in lxml.etree._parseFilelikeDocument (src\lxml\l
xml.etree.c:102531)
  File "parser.pxi", line 1685, in lxml.etree._parseDocFromFilelike (src\lxml\lx
ml.etree.c:101457)
  File "parser.pxi", line 1134, in lxml.etree._BaseParser._parseDocFromFilelike
(src\lxml\lxml.etree.c:97084)
  File "parser.pxi", line 582, in lxml.etree._ParserContext._handleParseResultDo
c (src\lxml\lxml.etree.c:91290)
  File "parser.pxi", line 679, in lxml.etree._handleParseResult (src\lxml\lxml.e
tree.c:92441)
  File "lxml.etree.pyx", line 327, in lxml.etree._ExceptionContext._raise_if_sto
red (src\lxml\lxml.etree.c:10196)
  File "parser.pxi", line 373, in lxml.etree._FileReaderContext.copyToBuffer (sr
c\lxml\lxml.etree.c:89098)
  File "C:\Python33\lib\codecs.py", line 301, in decode
    (result, consumed) = self._buffer_decode(data, self.errors, final)
UnicodeDecodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0x81 in position 11: invalid
 start byte

It has do to something with utf-8 encoding and the character it represents but i cannot figure out what should i do. I found some guide but didn't help me address the issue.

Answer 1

The issue was created because the program demands to parse not the whole Zip folder but a specific file (in this case the instance folder) which lies in the subdirectory of the zip folder.

To access the zip directory:

If our file inside the zip directory is 1.xml
C:\a>python arelleCmdLine.py -f C:\Python33\sec\2010\03\0000002809-0001047469-10
-002778-xbrl.zip\1.xml

Verdict:

A UnicodeDecodeError: 'utf-8' cant decode byte 0x81 was caused because of the above reason.

Answer 2

After a quick search up, the misbehaving byte appears to be the Ctrl key, according to the unicode byte database. As the appearance of Ctrl exists only as a haxi number and doesn't have it's own letter, I'm thinking that utf is having trouble printing it as a visible char, so the above error arises.