Mule object to string transformer adding one extra question mark at the start of string - mule

Question

i am doing a Object to string conversion, but when i am doing it is adding one extra question mark at the very begin of string.
below is my flow code
<flow name="jatoSmartWriteFromFTP" doc:name="jatoSmartWriteFromFTP" processingStrategy="synchronous">
<ftp:inbound-endpoint host="delvmpllreap03.sapient.com" port="21" path="/home/jatopoc" user="jatopoc" password="jatopoc" responseTimeout="10000" doc:name="FTP" mimeType="text/xml">
<file:filename-wildcard-filter pattern="filter_data.xml"></file:filename-wildcard-filter>
</ftp:inbound-endpoint>
<logger message="#[message.payload]" level="INFO" doc:name="Logger"></logger>
<object-to-string-transformer doc:name="Object to String" mimeType="text/xml"/>
<mulexml:jaxb-xml-to-object-transformer name="XmlToPerson" jaxbContext-ref="jatoJaxbContext" returnClass="com.jato.speedwing.common.vo.JATOXML"/>
<component doc:name="Java">
<method-entry-point-resolver>
<include-entry-point method="insert"></include-entry-point>
</method-entry-point-resolver>
<spring-object bean="jatoDAO"> </spring-object>
</component>
<jms:outbound-endpoint topic="com.jato.smart.updateInfo" connector-ref="VM_Active_MQ" doc:name="JMS"/>
</flow>
below is my xml file content at ftp
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<code>
data
</code>
below is the string output after doing object-to-string transformer
?<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<code>
data
</code>
now because of this extra question mark, my jaxb-xml-to-object transformer is not working..
can anybody suggest my what do here. since my task is to read a xml file from ftp > convert that file content to jaxb object(as file content is xml data).

Answer 1

Place a debug breakpoint on Object->String component. Debug your application and determine exactly what you are asking to convert to String (mimeType=text/XML). Mule is interpreting something in the object given and somehow producing the question mark. Some people have seen three question marks before the XML doc declaration and also other character combinations. The 3 question marks represent a byte order mark (BOM) that's a special UNICODE character dealing with endian-ness and byte order. Your case may be related to the character encoding as well. Debug the flow and identify the incoming object. Understand the operation and it's parameters.