erdcloader java exception: Content is not allowed in prolog

Problem: using erdcloader to add a custom script monitor to Uptime Infrastructure Monitor produces the following java exception:

org.xml.sax.SAXParseException: Content is not allowed in prolog

Root Cause: closer inspection should reveal unknown or unexpected characters in the .xml file.  For example, if you see dashes at the beginning of some lines, the xml content was probably copied from a web browser. 

Resolution: remove the unexpected characters