Trailing whitespace in HST configuration causes errors

When exporting hst:configuration nodes from the repository, the resulting XML files are often formatted. Depending on the XML editor and its configuration, this can introduce whitespace. A common example is the introduction of a linebreak and multiple whitespace characters like below:

Incorrectly formatted:

<sv:property sv:name="hst:componentclassname" sv:type="String">
<sv:value>org.example.MyComponent
</sv:value>
</sv:property>

This causes errors, and the component not loading. The workaround is easy: remove the linebreak and whitespace like below

<sv:property sv:name="hst:componentclassname" sv:type="String">
<sv:value>org.example.MyComponent</sv:value>
</sv:property>

but this can be completely prevented by a simple trim() on in the HST code to trim any whitespace.

The same issue occurs for several different configuration settings, including component classnames, and sitemenu paths.