Why Microsoft Graph API Returns Question Marks for Non-ASCII Names?
Have you ever encountered a situation where your Microsoft Graph API response displays non-ASCII characters as question marks? This frustrating issue can occur when working with names or other data containing characters outside the standard ASCII character set, such as those found in languages like Chinese, Japanese, or Korean.
Scenario: Imagine you are retrieving user information from Microsoft Graph using the following code:
import requests
graph_endpoint = 'https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users'
access_token = 'your_access_token'
headers = {
'Authorization': f'Bearer {access_token}'
}
response = requests.get(graph_endpoint, headers=headers)
if response.status_code == 200:
data = response.json()
for user in data['value']:
print(f"User name: {user['displayName']}")
else:
print(f'Error: {response.status_code}')
If a user's displayName contains characters outside the ASCII range, you might see question marks instead of the actual characters when printing user['displayName']. This is because the default encoding used by the API might not support these characters.
Understanding the Problem:
The issue arises from the way data is encoded and transmitted. When data is sent over the internet, it is converted into a sequence of bytes using a specific encoding scheme. ASCII is a basic encoding scheme that only supports English characters and a limited set of symbols. For characters outside the ASCII range, other encodings like UTF-8 are necessary.
Here's why you might see question marks:
- Incorrect Encoding: The Microsoft Graph API might default to an encoding that doesn't support non-ASCII characters.
- Missing Character Data: The data itself might be missing the necessary information to properly represent the characters.
- Decoding Issue: Your application might not be decoding the received data correctly, resulting in the question marks.
Solution:
To resolve this issue, you need to ensure that both the API response and your application are using the correct encoding. Here's how you can approach this:
-
Set the
Accept-CharsetHeader: Add theAccept-Charsetheader to your request, specifying UTF-8 as the preferred encoding. This tells the API to send the data in UTF-8 format.headers = { 'Authorization': f'Bearer {access_token}', 'Accept-Charset': 'utf-8' } -
Decode the Response: Ensure that your application correctly decodes the response using UTF-8. In Python, you can use the
.encode('utf-8')method to encode the string before printing it.print(f"User name: {user['displayName'].encode('utf-8')}") -
Verify API Response: Check the response's
Content-Typeheader to confirm the actual encoding used by the API.
Additional Considerations:
- Data Storage: Make sure your database and other data storage mechanisms are correctly configured to handle non-ASCII characters.
- Frontend Display: Ensure your frontend application (e.g., web page, mobile app) is properly configured to display non-ASCII characters. This might involve setting the appropriate character encoding for the HTML page or using a font that supports the relevant character set.
Resources:
By following these steps and paying attention to encoding throughout your application, you can avoid encountering question marks when dealing with non-ASCII characters in your Microsoft Graph API responses.
