[wpkg-users] How to identify malformed XML

[Geoff Brown]

Use Notepad++ and enable its' XML syntax checker. It will save you tons of frustration.

---
Geoff Brown
IT Services, SFU Surrey Campus


On Apr 11, 2013, at 9:38 AM, Jason Taylor wrote:

> Sometimes, after editing a package definition, wpkg will start complaining about malformed XML and no root elements. Could anyone give me some pointers on how to identify where the problem is? In my editor (ST2) it doesn't show any inconsistent highlighting or anything that screams "invalid XML!"
> 
> The last couple times this happened, I just re-wrote the file from scratch and the problem went away. I would rather find out what I'm doing wrong than re-writing it every time this happens.
> 
> These are the debug messages I'm getting:
> ---
> Error parsing xml '//domain/it/software/wpkg/packages/WorkshareProfessional.xml': The stylesheet does not contain a document element.  The stylesheet may be empty, or it may not be a well-formed XML document.                                                                                       
> No root element found in '//domain/it/software/wpkg/packages/WorkshareProfessional.xml'.
> ---
> 
> And here is the package definition in full:
> ---
> <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
> <packages xmlns:packages="http://www.wpkg.org/packages"	xmlns:wpkg="http://www.wpkg.org/wpkg" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"	xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.wpkg.org/packages xsd/packages.xsd">
> 
> 	<package id="WorkshareProfessional" name="Workshare Professional" revision="201304040">
> 		
> 		<!-- Current version -->
> 		<variable name="WORKSHAREVERSION" value="7.50.15000.1000" />
> 
> 		<variable name="WORKSHAREOPTIONS" value="Workshare_Options_x64.reg">
> 			<condition>
> 				<check type="host" type="architecture" value="x64" />
> 			</condition>
> 		</variable>
> 
> 		<variable name="WORKSHAREOPTIONS" value="Workshare_Options_x86.reg">
> 			<condition>
> 				<check type="host" type="architecture" value="x86" />
> 			</condition>
> 		</variable>
> 
> 		<!-- Always consider this package installed -->	
> 		<check type="file" condition="exists" path="%WINDIR%\explorer.exe" />
> 		
> 		<upgrade cmd='msiexec /qn /i "%SOFTWARE%\Workshare\Professional\Professional.msi"'>
> 			<condition>
> 				<check type="uninstall" condition="versionsmallerthan" path="Workshare Professional" value="%WORKSHAREVERSION%" />
> 			</condition>
> 		</upgrade>
> 
> 		<upgrade cmd='msiexec /qn /i "%SOFTWARE%\Workshare\Professional\WorksharePdfConverter.msi"'>
> 			<condition>
> 				<check type="uninstall" condition="versionsmallerthan" path="Workshare Professional" value="%WORKSHAREVERSION%" />
> 			</condition>
> 		</upgrade>
> 
> 		<upgrade cmd='%COMSPEC% /c copy "\\mlebk.local\it\software\Workshare\Professional_Perm.lic" "%PROGRAMFILES(X86)%\Workshare\Modules\"'>
> 			<condition>
> 				<check type="uninstall" condition="exists" path="Workshare Professional" />
> 			</condition>
> 		</upgrade>
> 
> 		<upgrade cmd='%COMSPEC% /c regedit /S "%SOFTWARE%\Workshare\%WORKSHAREOPTIONS%"'>
> 			<condition>
> 				<check type="uninstall" condition="exists" path="Workshare Professional" />
> 			</condition>
> 		</upgrade>
> 
> 		<upgrade cmd='%COMSPEC% /c "%PROGRAMFILES(X86)%\Workshare\Modules\WMConfigAssistant.exe" /install /silent'>
> 			<condition>
> 				<check type="uninstall" condition="versionsmallerthan" path="Workshare Professional" value="%WORKSHAREVERSION%" />
> 			</condition>
> 		</upgrade>
> 
> 	</package>
> 
> </packages>
> ---
> 
> This package definition broke after I added the two WORKSHAREOPTIONS variable assignments, and the regedit upgrade command. I don't see anything wrong with those items, though. I don't think it's a file encoding problem as this, and all other, files are UTF-8.
> 
> Any advice on finding out what's wrong here would be greatly appreciated!
> 
> 
> Jason Taylor
> Morris, Laing, Evans, Brock & Kennedy
> 300 N Mead Ste 200
> Wichita, KS 67202
> 316-262-2671
> jtaylor at morrislaing.com
> 
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