Cannot find the declaration of element 'car'

Question

First time posting here. I'm having difficulties with some XLM and XSD. I keep getting the following error:

Cannot find the declaration of element 'car'. [13]

I've searched the site for help, but I can't seem to make any progress without adding more errors (which may be the problem anyway I guess). I'd appreciate any and all help.

Part of XML:

<car
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="carcatalog.xsd">
    <make><h2>Make: </h2>Honda</make>
    <model><h2>Model: </h2>Accord</model>
    <year><h2>Year: </h2>2020</year>
    <color><h2>Color: </h2>Red</color>
    <engine>
        <number_of_cylinders><h2>Number of Cylinders: </h2>4</number_of_cylinders>
        <fuel_system><h2>Fuel System: </h2>Fuel Injected</fuel_system>
    </engine>
    <number_of_doors><h2>Doors: </h2>4</number_of_doors>
    <transmission_type><h2>Transmission: </h2>Automatic</transmission_type>
    <accessories>
        <radio><h2>Radio: </h2>Yes</radio>
        <air_conditioner><h2>Air Conditioner: </h2>Yes</air_conditioner>
        <power_windows><h2>Power Windows: </h2>No</power_windows>
        <power_steering><h2>Power Steering: </h2>Yes</power_steering>
        <power_brakes><h2>Power Brakes: </h2>Yes</power_brakes>
    </accessories>

    <h1></h1>

    <make><h2>Make: </h2>Chevrolet</make>
    <model><h2>Model: </h2>Corvette</model>
    <year><h2>Year: </h2>2020</year>
    <color><h2>Color: </h2>Blue</color>
    <engine>
        <number_of_cylinders><h2>Number of Cylinders: </h2>8</number_of_cylinders>
        <fuel_system><h2>Fuel System: </h2>Fuel Injected</fuel_system>
    </engine>
    <number_of_doors><h2>Doors: </h2>2</number_of_doors>
    <transmission_type><h2>Transmission: </h2>Manual</transmission_type>
    <accessories>
        <radio><h2>Radio: </h2>Yes</radio>
        <air_conditioner><h2>Air Conditioner: </h2>Yes</air_conditioner>
        <power_windows><h2>Power Windows: </h2>Yes</power_windows>
        <power_steering><h2>Power Steering: </h2>Yes</power_steering>
        <power_brakes><h2>Power Brakes: </h2>Yes</power_brakes>
    </accessories>

    <h1></h1>

    <make><h2>Make: </h2>Toyota</make>
    <model><h2>Model: </h2>Tacoma</model>
    <year><h2>Year: </h2>2017</year>
    <color><h2>Color: </h2>Cement</color>
    <engine>
        <number_of_cylinders><h2>Number of Cylinders: </h2>6</number_of_cylinders>
        <fuel_system><h2>Fuel System: </h2>Fuel Injected</fuel_system>
    </engine>
    <number_of_doors><h2>Doors: </h2>4</number_of_doors>
    <transmission_type><h2>Transmission: </h2>Automatic</transmission_type>
    <accessories>
        <radio><h2>Radio: </h2>Yes</radio>
        <air_conditioner><h2>Air Conditioner: </h2>Yes</air_conditioner>
        <power_windows><h2>Power Windows: </h2>Yes</power_windows>
        <power_steering><h2>Power Steering: </h2>Yes</power_steering>
        <power_brakes><h2>Power Brakes: </h2>Yes</power_brakes>
    </accessories>
</car>

Part of XSD:

<xs:schema 
    xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<xs:element name="catalog">
    <xs:complexType>
    <xs:sequence>

    <xs:element name = "car" maxOccurs="unbounded">
        <xs:complexType>
            <xs:sequence>
                <xs:element name = "make" type="xs:string"/>
                <xs:element name = "model" type="xs:string"/>
                <xs:element name = "year" type="xs:positiveInteger"/>
                <xs:element name = "color" type="xs:string"/>
                <xs:element name="engine">
                    <xs:complexType>
                    <xs:sequence>
                        <xs:element name="number_of_cylinders" type="xs:positiveInteger"/>
                        <xs:element name="fuel_system">
                            <xs:complexType>   
                            <xs:sequence>
                                <xs:choice>
                                    <xs:element name="fuel_injected"/>
                                    <xs:element name="carbureted"/>
                                </xs:choice>
                            </xs:sequence>
                            </xs:complexType>
                        </xs:element>
                    </xs:sequence>
                    </xs:complexType>
                </xs:element>

                <xs:element name = "number_of_doors" type="xs:positiveInteger"/>
                <xs:element name = "transmission_type" type="xs:string"/>

                <xs:element name = "accessories">
                    <xs:complexType>
                        <xs:sequence>
                            <xs:element name = "radio" minOccurs="1">
                                <xs:simpleType>
                                    <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
                                        <xs:enumeration value="yes"/>
                                        <xs:enumeration value="no"/>
                                    </xs:restriction>
                                </xs:simpleType>
                            </xs:element>
                            <xs:element name = "air_conditioner" minOccurs="1">
                                <xs:simpleType>
                                    <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
                                        <xs:enumeration value="yes"/>
                                        <xs:enumeration value="no"/>
                                    </xs:restriction>
                                </xs:simpleType>
                            </xs:element>
                            <xs:element name = "power_windows" minOccurs="1">
                                <xs:simpleType>
                                    <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
                                        <xs:enumeration value="yes"/>
                                        <xs:enumeration value="no"/>
                                    </xs:restriction>
                                </xs:simpleType>
                            </xs:element>
                            <xs:element name = "power_steering" minOccurs="1">
                                <xs:simpleType>
                                    <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
                                        <xs:enumeration value="yes"/>
                                        <xs:enumeration value="no"/>
                                    </xs:restriction>
                                </xs:simpleType>
                            </xs:element>
                            <xs:element name = "power_brakes" minOccurs="1">
                                <xs:simpleType>
                                    <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
                                        <xs:enumeration value="yes"/>
                                        <xs:enumeration value="no"/>
                                    </xs:restriction>
                                </xs:simpleType>
                            </xs:element>
                        </xs:sequence>
                    </xs:complexType>
                </xs:element>
            </xs:sequence>
        </xs:complexType>
    </xs:element>

    </xs:sequence>
    </xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
</xs:schema>

Answer 1

Reason for the error

In your case, the reason for the error is because the root element in your XML, car, does not have a top-level declaration in your XSD.

Remedies for this issue

Either move the declaration of car to the top-level in your XSD, or wrap car in your XML with catalog, which is defined at the top level and has car in its content model.

If you opt to move the declaration of car to the top-level in the XSD, you can reference it where needed in the content model of catalog (and other elements as necessary) via

<xs:element ref="car"  ... >

rather than xs:element/@name.

Other reasons for the error

There are many other reasons for an element not to be found during validation. See also:

• How to link XML to XSD using schemaLocation or noNamespaceSchemaLocation?
• How to reference a local XML Schema file correctly?
• xmlns, xmlns:xsi, xsi:schemaLocation, and targetNamespace?