parsing XML - getting lots of white space

[Tom wright]

hi all,

when parsing the following message

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<ServerMessage>
    <Command fromDirection="North">AddUser</Command>
    <User>
        <UserName>$userName</UserName>
        <UserId>$userId</UserId>
    </User>
</ServerMessage>

using the example code from the refereence guide, i get the following

>>> reload( xmlExample )
Start element: ServerMessage {}
Character data: u'\012'
Character data: u'    '
Start element: Command {u'fromDirection': u'North'}
Character data: u'AddUser'
End element: Command
Character data: u'\012'
Character data: u'    '
Start element: User {}
Character data: u'\012'
Character data: u'        '
Start element: UserName {}
Character data: u'$userName'
End element: UserName
Character data: u'\012'
Character data: u'        '
Start element: UserId {}
Character data: u'$userId'
End element: UserId
Character data: u'\012'
Character data: u'    '
End element: User
Character data: u'\012'
End element: ServerMessage
<module 'xmlExample' from 'xmlExample.py'>

Is there a way to loose the '\012' strings and the space filled string ?
and why is everything in unicode ??

I have RTFM, but i cant find anything, any help appreciated

regards

Tom