Why does java / android require an empty space at the beginning of an XML element to parse it?

Question

I am parsing an XML file for an Android app I am writing and have noticed that without a leading space the first char is replaced with a blank space.

  public void characters(char ch[], int start, int length) { //extends DefaultHandler
if(this.in_mytag || this.in_user_id){
  myXMLParser.setExtractedString(new StringBuffer().append(ch).toString());
}
  }

I am wanting to use the following format in my XML...

<user_id>123</user_id> 

The string that is returned is " 23" (with the 1 lost and an empty space in the string). If I use

<user_id> 123</user_id>

the result is the expected " 123". What am I missing here? Or is this typical and I will need to alter my XML file.

Answer 1

All the SAX characters() method implementations I've seen have observed the offset and length parameters.

Does this version make any difference?

myXMLParser.setExtractedString(new String(ch, start, length));

Answer 2

I'm not sure if this is the reason why, but i noticed you left out the closing identifier in your xml. <user_id>123<user_id> should be <user_id>123</user_id>