How to fix error: The markup in the document following the root element must be well-formed

xml xslt xml-parsing xml-validation

138,206

General case

The markup in the document following the root element must be well-formed.

This error indicates that your XML has markup following the root element. In order to be well-formed, XML must have exactly one root element, and there can be no further markup following the single root element.

One root element example (GOOD)

<r>
  <a/>
  <b/>
  <c/>
</r>

The most common sources for this error are:

Including stray or extra close tags (BAD):

<r>
  <a/>
  <b/>
  <c/>
</r>
</r>  <!-- shouldn't be here -->

Intentionally having multiple root elements (BAD):

<a/>
<b/>  <!-- second root element shouldn't be here -->
<c/>  <!-- third root element shouldn't be here -->

Unintentionally having multiple root elements (BAD):

<r/>  <!-- shouldn't be self-closing -->
  <a/>
  <b/>
  <c/>
</r>

Parsing different XML than you think (BAD):

Log the XML immediately before providing to the parse that's failing in order to make sure that the XML that the parser is seeing is the same as the XML you think it's seeing. Common errors here include:
- The filename of the XML document being passed to the parser differs from what you believe it is.
- The buffer of the XML being dirty. Make sure it's been cleared prior to adding your XML.
- An earlier program from a prior stage in your pipeline changing the XML prior to the parsing that's yielding this error message.

Your particular problem

In your particular case, your XML appears to have multiple root elements because the xsl:stylesheet element is closed prematurely (case #3 above).

Change

            xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"/>

            xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">

to fix your immediate problem, and add a closing tag,

</xsl:stylesheet>

if one does not already exist in your real document.

138,206

Mereinid

Updated on April 26, 2022

Comments

Mereinid about 2 years

I put my code in the XML validation website and it gives me this error:

Line 8: 4 The markup in the document following the root element must be well-formed.

The line that is having an issue is the <xsl:output method = "html" doctype-system = "about:legacy-compat"/>, line.

XML

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<!-- Fig. 15.21: sorting.xsl -->
<xsl:stylesheet version = "1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"/>

<!-- write XML declaration and DOCTYPE DTD information -->
*<xsl:output method = "html" doctype-system = "about:legacy-compat" />*

 <!-- match document root -->
 <xsl:template match="/"> -<html> <xsl:apply-templates/> </html> 
 </xsl:template>

Mereinid over 6 years

Copy that, KJH, I had the closing tag down on about line 18. Thank you for your time and timely response.
Mereinid over 6 years

HA, I jinxed my self. And I will accept the above answer. Question; I ran the entire thing through the XML Validation site, I received no errors. I loaded it onto my schools webserver to render the page in Chrome so I could turn it in for my homework this week. Chome is giving me an error on line 8 also; This page contains the following errors: error on line 8 at column 3: Extra content at the end of the document. Is the extra content at the end of the document referring to that particular line or then end of the entire document?
kjhughes over 6 years

@Mereinid: Please read Well-formed vs Valid XML and understand that neither being well-formed nor valid implies correctness of your XSLT. See also Running XSLT in a Web Browser. Beyond this answer and those two answers, you'll have to post another question if you're still having problems. Comments aren't meant for new questions -- just clarifications. Thank you.
Attila over 5 years

Very detailed use-cases, thanks @kjhughes. I may add my 2 cents, sometimes you may have some well formed looking XML giving you the same error as OP's upon parsing. One possible reason is the XML might contain invisible characters such as but not limited to ZERO WIDTH SPACE (U+200B) or ZERO WIDTH NO BREAK SPACE (U+FEFF). This thread gives a trick to spot and remove them.
Sean Anderson about 2 years

I saw this error when an opening html tag got copy/pasta'ed (deleted). The xml parser was throwing an error on the line of the opening body tag.