XML document structures must start and end within the same entity

Question

Hi there,
I'm working with a client/server application and using SaxParser for reading in xml. I get the SaxParserException: XML document structures must start and end within the same entity. I understand what that means, but it isn't applicable! The xml data being used is well-formed. I checked the well-formedness with Stylus Studio to make sure. Here's the data:
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<vcmessage>
     <vcsource>3</vcsource>
     <processevent>16</processevent>
     <shape>
          <llindex>0</llindex>
          <shapetype>9</shapetype>
          <shapeproperties>
               <shapelocation>
                    <xcoord>54</xcoord>
                    <ycoord>184</ycoord>
               </shapelocation>
               <bounds>
                    <width>24</width>
                    <height>24</height>
               </bounds>
               <fgcolor>
                    <fgred>0</fgred>
                    <fggreen>0</fggreen>
                    <fgblue>0</fgblue>
               </fgcolor>
               <bgcolor>
                    <bgred>255</bgred>
                    <bggreen>255</bggreen>
                    <bgblue>255</bgblue>
               </bgcolor>
               <thickness>1</thickness>
               <isfilled>false</isfilled>
          </shapeproperties>
     </shape>
</vcmessage>The parser generally stops around the </bgcolor> tag.
I'm using Eclypse as my IDE. I'm wondering if there's something wrong with it? Or maybe there's something wrong with the class I'm using for reading in the XML? Followng is the class.
Please advise,
Alan
package vcclient;
import java.io.*;
import org.xml.sax.*;
import org.xml.sax.helpers.*;
import javax.xml.parsers.*;
public class XMLDocumentReader extends DefaultHandler
  private VCClient client = null;
  private Writer out;
  private String lineEnd =  System.getProperty("line.separator");
  private boolean haveSourceType = false;
  private boolean haveUserName = false;
  private boolean haveMessage = false;
  private boolean haveProcessEvent = false;
  private boolean haveLinkedListIndex = false;
  private boolean haveOpeningShapePropertiesTag = false;
  private boolean haveShapeType = false;
  private boolean haveOpeningShapeLocationTag = false;
  private boolean haveShapeLocation = false;
  private boolean haveOpeningXCoordTag = false;
  private boolean haveOpeningYCoordTag = false;
  private boolean haveOpeningBoundsTag = false;
  private boolean haveBoundsWidth = false;
  private boolean haveBoundsHeight = false;
  private boolean haveOpeningFGColorTag = false;
  private boolean haveOpeningBGColorTag = false;
  private boolean haveOpeningThicknessTag = false;
  private boolean haveOpeningIsFilledTag = false;
  private boolean haveOpeningImageDataTag = false;
  private boolean haveOpeningTextDataTag = false;
  private boolean haveFGRed = false;
  private boolean haveFGGreen = false;
  private boolean haveFGBlue = false;
  private boolean haveBGRed = false;
  private boolean haveBGGreen = false;
  private boolean haveBGBlue = false;
  private boolean haveThickness = false;
  private boolean haveIsFilled = false;
  private boolean haveImageData = false;
  private boolean haveTextData = false;
  private VCMessage vcmessage = null;
  public XMLDocumentReader(VCClient value)
       client = value;
       vcmessage = new VCMessage();
  public VCMessage getVCMessage()
       return vcmessage;
  public boolean haveSourceType()
     return haveSourceType; 
  public boolean ParseXML(InputStream stream)
     boolean success = false;
     // Use the default (non-validating) parser
    SAXParserFactory factory = SAXParserFactory.newInstance();
    try
         // Set up output stream
        out = new OutputStreamWriter(System.out, "UTF-8");
        // Parse the input
        SAXParser saxParser = factory.newSAXParser();
        saxParser.parse( stream, this );
        success = true;
    catch (SAXParseException spe)
        // Error generated by the parser
        System.out.println("\n** Parsing error"
           + ", line " + spe.getLineNumber()
           + ", uri " + spe.getSystemId());
        System.out.println("   " + spe.getMessage() );
        // Unpack the delivered exception to get the exception it contains
        Exception  x = spe;
        if (spe.getException() != null)
            x = spe.getException();
        x.printStackTrace();
        return success;
    catch (SAXException sxe)
         // Error generated by this application
         // (or a parser-initialization error)
         Exception  x = sxe;
         if (sxe.getException() != null)
             x = sxe.getException();
         x.printStackTrace();
         return success;
    catch (ParserConfigurationException pce)
        // Parser with specified options can't be built
        pce.printStackTrace();
        return success;
    catch (Throwable t)
         t.printStackTrace();
         return success;
    return success;
  public void startDocument()throws SAXException
      emit("<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>");
      nl();
  public void endDocument()throws SAXException
      try {
          nl();
          out.flush();
      } catch (IOException e) {
          throw new SAXException("I/O error", e);
  public void startElement(String namespaceURI,
                           String lName, // local name
                           String qName, // qualified name
                           Attributes attrs)throws SAXException
      String eName = lName; // element name
      if (eName.equals(""))
         eName = qName; // namespaceAware = false
      emit("<"+eName);
      if (attrs != null) {
          for (int i = 0; i < attrs.getLength(); i++) {
              String aName = attrs.getLocalName(i); // Attr name
              if (aName.equals("")) aName = attrs.getQName(i);
              emit(" ");
              emit(aName + "=\"" + attrs.getValue(i) + "\"");
      emit(">");
      if(makeStartTag(eName).equals(Constants.OPENING_SHAPEPROPERTIES))
            haveOpeningShapePropertiesTag = true;
      else if(makeStartTag(eName).equals(Constants.OPENING_SHAPELOCATION))
          haveOpeningShapeLocationTag = true;
      else if(makeStartTag(eName).equals(Constants.OPENING_BOUNDS))
            haveOpeningBoundsTag = true;
      else if(makeStartTag(eName).equals(Constants.OPENING_FGCOLOR))
             haveOpeningFGColorTag = true;
      else if(makeStartTag(eName).equals(Constants.OPENING_BGCOLOR))
          haveOpeningBGColorTag = true;
      else if(makeStartTag(eName).equals(Constants.OPENING_BGGREEN))
           System.out.println("See BGGreen");
      else if(makeStartTag(eName).equals(Constants.OPENING_BGBLUE))
           System.out.println("See BGBlue");
      else if(makeStartTag(eName).equals(Constants.OPENING_THICKNESS))
          haveOpeningThicknessTag = true;
      else if(makeStartTag(eName).equals(Constants.OPENING_ISFILLED))
          haveOpeningIsFilledTag = true;
      else if(makeStartTag(eName).equals(Constants.OPENING_IMAGEDATA))
          haveOpeningImageDataTag = true;
      else if(makeStartTag(eName).equals(Constants.OPENING_TEXTDATA))
          haveOpeningTextDataTag = true;
  public void endElement(String namespaceURI,
                         String sName, // simple name
                         String qName  // qualified name
                        )throws SAXException
       if(sName.equals("") && !qName.equals(""))
          sName = qName;
          emit("</"+sName+">");
       else
          emit("</"+sName+">");
       if(makeEndTag(sName).equals(Constants.CLOSING_SOURCE_TYPE))
          haveSourceType = true;
       else if(makeEndTag(sName).equals(Constants.CLOSING_USER))
          haveUserName = true;
       else if(makeEndTag(sName).equals(Constants.CLOSING_MESSAGE))
          haveMessage = true;
       else if(makeEndTag(sName).equals(Constants.CLOSING_PROCESSEVENT))
           haveProcessEvent = true;
       else if(makeEndTag(sName).equals(Constants.CLOSING_LINKEDLISTINDEX))
           haveLinkedListIndex = true;
       else if(makeEndTag(sName).equals(Constants.CLOSING_SHAPETYPE))
           haveShapeType = true;
       else if(makeEndTag(sName).equals(Constants.CLOSING_SHAPELOCATION))
            haveOpeningShapeLocationTag = false;
       else if(makeEndTag(sName).equals(Constants.CLOSING_WIDTH))
           haveBoundsWidth = true;
       else if(makeEndTag(sName).equals(Constants.CLOSING_HEIGHT))
           haveBoundsHeight = true;
       else if(makeEndTag(sName).equals(Constants.CLOSING_BOUNDS))
            haveOpeningBoundsTag = false;
       else if(makeEndTag(sName).equals(Constants.CLOSING_FGRED))
           haveFGRed = true;
       else if(makeEndTag(sName).equals(Constants.CLOSING_FGGREEN))
           haveFGGreen = true;
       else if(makeEndTag(sName).equals(Constants.CLOSING_FGBLUE))
           haveFGBlue = true;
       else if(makeEndTag(sName).equals(Constants.CLOSING_FGCOLOR))
            haveOpeningFGColorTag = false;
       else if(makeEndTag(sName).equals(Constants.CLOSING_BGRED))
           haveBGRed = true;
       else if(makeEndTag(sName).equals(Constants.CLOSING_BGGREEN))
         haveBGGreen = true;
       else if(makeEndTag(sName).equals(Constants.CLOSING_BGBLUE))
           System.out.println("See closing BGBlue");
           haveBGBlue = true;
       else if(makeEndTag(sName).equals(Constants.CLOSING_BGCOLOR))
            haveOpeningBGColorTag = false;
       else if(makeEndTag(sName).equals(Constants.CLOSING_THICKNESS))
           System.out.println("XMLDocumentReader: Step2");
            haveOpeningThicknessTag = false;
       else if(makeEndTag(sName).equals(Constants.CLOSING_ISFILLED))
           haveOpeningIsFilledTag = false;
       else if(makeEndTag(sName).equals(Constants.CLOSING_IMAGEDATA))
           haveOpeningImageDataTag = false;
       else if(makeEndTag(sName).equals(Constants.CLOSING_TEXTDATA))
           haveOpeningTextDataTag = false;
  private String makeStartTag(String tag_name)
       String start = "<";
       String end = ">";
       return start.concat(tag_name).concat(end);
  private String makeEndTag(String tag_name)
       String start = "</";
       String end = ">";
       return start.concat(tag_name).concat(end);
  public void characters(char buf[], int offset, int len)throws SAXException
       String s = new String(buf, offset, len);
      if(haveSourceType == false)
           if(vcmessage.getSourceType() == null)
              try
                if(s.equals(""))return;
               int sourcetype = Integer.parseInt(s);
               vcmessage.setSourceType(sourcetype);                            
              catch(NumberFormatException nfe){}
      else if(vcmessage.getSourceType() == SourceType.CHAT_SOURCE)
        if(vcmessage.getSourceType() == SourceType.CHAT_SOURCE && haveUserName == false)
             vcmessage.setUserName(s);          
        else if(vcmessage.getSourceType() == SourceType.CHAT_SOURCE && haveMessage == false)
           //When the parser encounters interpreted characters like: & or <,
           //then this method gets invoked more than once for the whole message.
           //Therefore, we need to concatonate each portion of the message.  The
           //following method call automatically concatonates.
           vcmessage.concatMessage(s);                    
      else if(vcmessage.getSourceType() == SourceType.WHITEBOARD_SOURCE)
           if(haveProcessEvent == false)
             try
               vcmessage.setProcessEvent(Integer.parseInt(s));
             catch(NumberFormatException nfe){}
           else if(haveLinkedListIndex == false)
                try
                   vcmessage.setLinkedListIndex(Integer.parseInt(s));
                 catch(NumberFormatException nfe){}
           else if(haveShapeType == false)
                try
                   vcmessage.setShapeType(Integer.parseInt(s));
                 catch(NumberFormatException nfe){}
           if(haveOpeningShapePropertiesTag)
                if(haveOpeningShapeLocationTag)
                     if(haveOpeningXCoordTag)
                          try
                            vcmessage.setXCoordinate(Integer.parseInt(s));
                          catch(NumberFormatException nfe){}
                     else if(haveOpeningYCoordTag)
                          try
                            vcmessage.setYCoordinate(Integer.parseInt(s));
                            //reset all flags for ShapeLocation, X and Y coordinates
                            haveOpeningXCoordTag = false;
                            haveOpeningYCoordTag = false;
                            //haveOpeningShapeLocationTag = false;
                          catch(NumberFormatException nfe){}
                else if(haveOpeningBoundsTag)
                     if(haveBoundsWidth == false)
                          try
                            vcmessage.setBoundsWidth(Integer.parseInt(s));
                          catch(NumberFormatException nfe){}
                     else if(haveBoundsHeight == false)
                          try
                            vcmessage.setBoundsHeight(Integer.parseInt(s));
                            //reset flag
                            //haveOpeningBoundsTag = false;
                          catch(NumberFormatException nfe){}
                else if(haveOpeningFGColorTag)
                     if(haveFGRed == false)
                          try
                            vcmessage.setFGRed(Integer.parseInt(s));                           
                          catch(NumberFormatException nfe){}
                     else if(haveFGGreen == false)
                          try
                            vcmessage.setFGGreen(Integer.parseInt(s));                           
                          catch(NumberFormatException nfe){}
                     else if(haveFGBlue == false)
                          try
                            vcmessage.setFGBlue(Integer.parseInt(s));
                            //reset flag
                            //haveOpeningFGColorTag = false;
                          catch(NumberFormatException nfe){}
                else if(haveOpeningBGColorTag)
                     if(haveBGRed == false)
                          try
                            vcmessage.setBGRed(Integer.parseInt(s));                           
                          catch(NumberFormatException nfe){}
                     else if(haveBGGreen == false)
                          try
                            vcmessage.setBGGreen(Integer.parseInt(s));                           
                          catch(NumberFormatException nfe){}
                     else if(haveBGBlue == false)
                     {   System.out.println("getting BGBlue data");
                          try
                            vcmessage.setBGBlue(Integer.parseInt(s));
                            //reset flag
                            //haveOpeningBGColorTag = false;
                          catch(NumberFormatException nfe){}
                else if(haveOpeningThicknessTag)
                     try
                        vcmessage.setThickness(Integer.parseInt(s));                       
                      catch(NumberFormatException nfe){}
                else if(haveOpeningIsFilledTag)
                     vcmessage.setIsFilled(s);
                else if(haveOpeningImageDataTag && vcmessage.getProcessEvent() == org.jcanvas.comm.ProcessEvent.MODIFY)
                     vcmessage.setBase64ImageData(s);                    
                else if(haveOpeningTextDataTag && vcmessage.getProcessEvent() == org.jcanvas.comm.ProcessEvent.MODIFY)
                     vcmessage.setTextData(s);
                //reset
                haveOpeningShapePropertiesTag = false;
      emit(s);
  //===========================================================
  // Utility Methods ...
  //===========================================================
  // Wrap I/O exceptions in SAX exceptions, to
  // suit handler signature requirements
  private void emit(String s)throws SAXException
      try {
          out.write(s);
          out.flush();
      } catch (IOException e) {
          throw new SAXException("I/O error", e);
  // Start a new line
  private void nl()throws SAXException
      try {
          out.write(lineEnd);
      } catch (IOException e) {
          throw new SAXException("I/O error", e);
  //treat validation errors as fatal
  public void error(SAXParseException e)
  throws SAXParseException
    throw e;
  // dump warnings too
  public void warning(SAXParseException err)
  throws SAXParseException
    System.out.println("** Warning"
        + ", line " + err.getLineNumber()
        + ", uri " + err.getSystemId());
    System.out.println("   " + err.getMessage());
}

Answer 1

Just out of curiosity what happens if you append a space to the end of the XML document?