org.xml.sax.SAXParseException: Unexpected token while parsing XML

Question

Update:- Seems like I have to give the URL which is returning me the xml. Here it is - URL

I am getting SAXParseException when parsing an xml. The xml I am trying to parse is as follows -

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<markers xmlns="">
    <marker name="" address1="" address2="" region="" country="" zip="" imgsrc="" lat="" lng="" distance="" />
    <marker name="" address1="" address2="" region="" country="" zip="" imgsrc="" lat="" lng="" distance="" />
    <marker name="" address1="" address2="" region="" country="" zip="" imgsrc="" lat="" lng="" distance="" />
    <marker name="" address1="" address2="" region="" country="" zip="" imgsrc="" lat="" lng="" distance="" />
    <marker name="" address1="" address2="" region="" country="" zip="" imgsrc="" lat="" lng="" distance="" />
</markers>

The code which I am using to parse this xml is as follows -

public Document getDomElement(String xml) {
    Document doc = null;
    DocumentBuilderFactory dbf = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance();
    try {

        DocumentBuilder db = dbf.newDocumentBuilder();

        InputSource is = new InputSource();
        is.setCharacterStream(new StringReader(xml));
        doc = db.parse(is);

    } catch (ParserConfigurationException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
        Log.e("ParserConfigurationException: ", e.getMessage());
        return null;
    } catch (SAXException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
        Log.e("SAXException: ", e.getMessage());
        return null;
    } catch (IOException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
        Log.e("IOException: ", e.getMessage());
        return null;
    }
    return doc;
}

I am using same code to parse other xml data and it works. I couldn't understand what's there in this xml data which is stopping it to parse the data properly. I have checked the xml with many xml validators online too.

I must be missing something obvious here.

EDIT:- The xml I am trying to parse is from a webservice(the name, address etc. are not actually empty). When I try to use the xml directly by hardcoding in the code itself, it works fine. But when trying to use it directly from webservice response, is not working for me.

The exception:-

10-09 20:39:50.328: W/System.err(16211): org.xml.sax.SAXParseException: Unexpected token (position:TEXT @1:2 in java.io.StringReader@41941010) 
10-09 20:39:50.335: W/System.err(16211):    at org.apache.harmony.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderImpl.parse(DocumentBuilderImpl.java:146)
10-09 20:39:50.335: W/System.err(16211):    at com.blackcobrastudios.ukash.WebService.XMLDataParser.getDomElement(XMLDataParser.java:159)
10-09 20:39:50.335: W/System.err(16211):    at com.blackcobrastudios.ukash.Manager.APICaller.processResult(APICaller.java:386)
10-09 20:39:50.335: W/System.err(16211):    at com.blackcobrastudios.ukash.Manager.APICaller.access$1(APICaller.java:385)
10-09 20:39:50.335: W/System.err(16211):    at com.blackcobrastudios.ukash.Manager.APICaller$SoapCaller.onPostExecute(APICaller.java:361)
10-09 20:39:50.335: W/System.err(16211):    at com.blackcobrastudios.ukash.Manager.APICaller$SoapCaller.onPostExecute(APICaller.java:1)
10-09 20:39:50.335: W/System.err(16211):    at android.os.AsyncTask.finish(AsyncTask.java:602)
10-09 20:39:50.343: W/System.err(16211):    at android.os.AsyncTask.access$600(AsyncTask.java:156)
10-09 20:39:50.343: W/System.err(16211):    at android.os.AsyncTask$InternalHandler.handleMessage(AsyncTask.java:615)
10-09 20:39:50.343: W/System.err(16211):    at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99)
10-09 20:39:50.343: W/System.err(16211):    at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:137)
10-09 20:39:50.343: W/System.err(16211):    at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:4536)
10-09 20:39:50.343: W/System.err(16211):    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
10-09 20:39:50.351: W/System.err(16211):    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:511)
10-09 20:39:50.351: W/System.err(16211):    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:791)
10-09 20:39:50.351: W/System.err(16211):    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:558)
10-09 20:39:50.351: W/System.err(16211):    at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)
10-09 20:39:50.351: E/SAXException:(16211): Unexpected token (position:TEXT @1:2 in java.io.StringReader@41941010)

Could be the empty namespace declaration. Also, are you sure it's utf-8? — tom, Oct 09 '13 at 14:58
I tried replacing the namespace with something which all my other xml have. I tried removing the xml altogether. — 0xC0DED00D, Oct 09 '13 at 15:05
This is the same issue with the similar API - https://github.com/AFNetworking/AFNetworking/issues/1235 — 0xC0DED00D, Oct 10 '13 at 09:10

score 4 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:01

4

The problem was in the encoding. The following answer explains it properly -

https://stackoverflow.com/a/2869127/1079901

I just have to call this regex on the response string -

response = response.replaceAll("[^\\x20-\\x7e]", "");

Thanks to BalusC for such a perfect answer.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:01

Community

1
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answered Oct 10 '13 at 14:59

0xC0DED00D

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@Bachask8 is your problem similar to mine? I mean did you check the linked answer of BaluC which explains the issue. It was an encoding mismatch issue. – 0xC0DED00D Oct 18 '13 at 11:17
2

yeah, and it worked with this `ByteArrayInputStream encXML = new ByteArrayInputStream(xmldatos.getBytes("UTF8"));` – Bachask8 Oct 18 '13 at 21:55
So it was an encoding issue after all. – 0xC0DED00D Oct 18 '13 at 23:29
Hey Noob, Thanks a lot man... You saved my day. You are awesome – coders Sep 29 '15 at 05:08
@coders Yes, I know I am awesome. Thanks for confirming it ;-) – 0xC0DED00D Sep 29 '15 at 06:01
I tried it. This is not the solution. SAXParseException occure anyway. – Vitaly Nov 29 '21 at 16:50
@RussiaDroneFlights This may be because of different encoding in your xml. You may wanna try a different regex to remove unwanted symbols. – 0xC0DED00D Dec 04 '21 at 19:54

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 09 '13 at 15:01

2

I recommend abandoning the sax parser and using the Android officially supported XMLPullParser. Sax parser is not supported after Android Gingerbread (2.3.3)

answered Oct 09 '13 at 15:01

Roy Hinkley

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I have tried it already, it's giving me XMLPullParserException. Please check the XML URL in the question. – 0xC0DED00D Oct 10 '13 at 07:16
You have `xmlns=""` If you want the parser to work, you need to define the xml namespace that defines the rules. Most XML is compliant with `http:www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema` but you may need a different one. If you don't identify the namespace, the parser won't know the rules to parse your xml. – Roy Hinkley Oct 10 '13 at 13:00
How do I add the rules? I can't change the webservice, so I have to make changes in the resultant string. – 0xC0DED00D Oct 10 '13 at 14:10
You don't need to add the rules, the namespace already defines them. The parser uses the namespace to know which rules to use. – Roy Hinkley Oct 10 '13 at 14:20
1

My app kept on crashing because it `"doesn't support the required security features: http://xml.org/sax/features/external-general-entities"` .. now this explain why, thank you – McLan Feb 13 '17 at 13:22

score 2 · Answer 3 · edited Sep 30 '14 at 08:45

2

If the XML contains Unicode characters such as arabic or Persian letters, StringReader would make an exception. In these cases, pass the InputStream straightly to the Document object

edited Sep 30 '14 at 08:45

Robert

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answered Sep 30 '14 at 08:27

Arash moradabadi

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score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 09 '13 at 15:06

1

I would recommend trying to incorporate some XSD validation in your program before you run it through your code.

The following may help you in your efforts:

Online XSD Validator Tool: http://www.utilities-online.info/xsdvalidation/
Xerces for Android: https://code.google.com/p/xerces-for-android/

answered Oct 09 '13 at 15:06

James Oravec

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I checked it using http://www.validome.org/xml/validate/ at it is telling some missing definition error. – 0xC0DED00D Oct 10 '13 at 09:11
Try to simply your code. I'd start by removing the reference to utf-8 and then keep simplying until you get something that works, then build up to what you need. If you need additional resources for learning, I would recommend http://www.w3schools.com/schema/ and http://www.w3schools.com/xml/ – James Oravec Oct 11 '13 at 20:37

org.xml.sax.SAXParseException: Unexpected token while parsing XML

4 Answers4

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