I've recently started getting an occasional pop-up titled simply "XML Error" saying just...

Parse Error:Mismatched tag at line 43

No indication as to which XML file is at fault.

Any ideas?

Poser uses xml files for certain perferences, eg LibraryPrefs.xml, LibraryState.xml and Poser UI PrefMap. It could be one of these.

The clue to which one might be in what you were doing when the error occurred.

A browser like IE will attempt to parse an XML file so one possibility is you try to load each into IE (or your favourite browser) and see if they produce an error.

On my machine the files are contains in C:UsersMYPCAppDataRoamingPoser Pro10

Good luck.

Good suggestion. I've got Poser 6 installed to E:e frontierPoser 6 on my system, and there's around 104 different XML files in there (no Poser-related XML files in my user settings/folders). Only a couple of the files have changed this year (LibraryPrefs.xml, Poser UI Prefs_1920x1080.xml, and Poser UI Prefs_1366x768.xml) and since I've only seen the error in the past few weeks they'd be the likeliest suspects. But there's nothing wrong with them as far as I can see - line 43 definitely seems okay in each of them!

What I'm doing when it happens? I've usually just opened Poser 6 (I have a default scene load with some of my own stuff), and then loaded a prop, figure, or scene created from Poser 9. At least I think that's what I've done when it happens...

I've now set Poser 6 to load with the default factory scene - see if I still get a problem...

Heres an explanation on the problem when encounterd in Poser 5, I saved it from a site back in the days and I dont know who is the author:

XML parse errors can occur if you have a library (either created in Poser
5, or an old Poser 4 library) that has one of the following characters in
the name:
quote (")
apostrophe (')
ampersand (&)
less than (<)
greater than (>)

(These may not cause a problem, but may be problem characters)
back slash ()
slash (/)

To solve the problem, you must rename the offending folder or file. Then you must fix the reference in the LibraryPrefs.xml file

Attached Link: Escaping special charaters

If you don't want to rename the directory it may be possible to escape the offending character in the pref file (see link). So for example

"Cats & Dogs" becomes "Cats & Dogs"

Thanks jonnybode/ironsoul - I just did another check of my 'LibraryPrefs.xml' file, and there's no special characters in any of the pathnames, so I was going to say "No, it's not that."...

But then I took another look...

    <ContentFolder folder="G:Poser$DAZRuntimeLibraries"  index="4" >
        <Library libraryType="2"  curLibraryFolder="character" />
        <Library libraryType="8"  curLibraryFolder="props" />
        <Library libraryType="9"  curLibraryFolder="materials" />
        <Library libraryType="1"  curLibraryFolder="pose!FolkV4V4 StancesV4 Brianas Stances" />
        <Library libraryType="7"  curLibraryFolder="hairV3V3 Erin Hair" />
        <Library libraryType="3"  curLibraryFolder="light" />
    

Like I said, no special characters there, but if any of my library subfolders have a special character in the name (and Windows allows & and ' ) and I happen to close Poser with that folder selected? That would explain why it sometimes happens, sometimes doesn't, and isn't repeatable.

I guess it's time to go hunting naughty little ampersands and apostrophes :)

Bagged a brace of 'em (Papasmrfe's Bird, Kirwyn's K, Sarina's Patio, M3 Norman's Outfit (Lourdes), NEA's Expressions, P4f 80's Bob Hair, Lover's Choice, V4 Fighter's Tunica, DM Production Pz3's, Ben & Kate, !!DMShi&Dal, Elegance&Grace, V1 Dierdre's Clothing, Lisa's Botanicals, !DAZ's Wyvern, DAZ's Troll, DAZ's Girl 4, DAZ's Girl 4 Hair, DAZ's Hiro 4 Materials, 1_Full Head & Face, Dreams & Reality, V2 Gypsies&Genies MATs, All_Flowers & Chains) <== only noted here as a quick reference when I decide to fix them!

There's one, but only one, that I've definitely used recently, so I ran Poser 6, loaded the V4 Fighter's Tunica, and quit. And there it is in the XML file (don't forget that Renderosity's forum software, combined with my initial failure to escape them when posting, screws up the backslashes when I edit the post!)

    <ContentFolder folder="H:PoserFreebiesRuntimeLibraries"  index="6" >
        <Library libraryType="2"  curLibraryFolder="character!HairAnime Girl Kristen Conforming Hair" />
        <Library libraryType="1"  curLibraryFolder="pose" />
        <Library libraryType="9"  curLibraryFolder="materials" />
        <Library libraryType="8"  curLibraryFolder="props!Gear PropsV4V4 Fighter's Tunica (ADP" />
        <Library libraryType="7"  curLibraryFolder="hair" />
    

But when I run Poser 6 again, no XML error. Well, not straight off anyway - but I played around for a bit and it came up exactly as before - line 43.

One remaining curiosity - the unescaped apostrophe is on line 51, not 43...

Quote - One remaining curiosity - the unescaped apostrophe is on line 51, not 43...

Line number might be after the file has been parsed (eg blank lines removed). Of course could be the error is coming from another file.

Don't have anything specific to suggest, if you're happy to take the risk it might corrupt the config one approach would be to backup the pref files and revert the active ones to default then check to make sure the error goes away. If it does then introduce each pref file one at a time to see which one is causing the problem. The other approach is to use a program like sysinternals procmon that shows what an application is doing (takes a while to set-up so not an easy option).

I've now renamed all the offending libraries subfolders, so if the error was a 'curLibraryFolder' being set to a path containing special characters then it won't happen again.

And if it doesn't happen again I'm happy - I'll just convince myself that the parser can't count! ;)

But if it recurs then I may be back...

Okay, back again - I just had it happen again. All I did was open Poser 6 (it loaded the default factory scene with James Casual). Then I started editing something in NotePad++, and while I was doing that the old "Poser XML Error" dialog appeared - exactly the same, line 43.

I checked the 'LibraryPrefs.xml' file and there's nothing obviously wrong with it - no special characters.

Hmmm... I use NotePad++ a lot, and I think I've possibly been using it every time this Poser XML Error dialogue appears error... I wonder if perhaps there's some 'spooky action at a distance' going on there? (I wasn't editing any of the Poser XML files, or any file that Poser's currently using, when it happened just now - although I was editing a PoserPython script)

Since my last post back in may I've been getting that same error every time I run Poser 6 (yes SIX - some of us still do!)... and just ignoring it.

Today I reinstalled* Poser 6 (although I'm still using the default Poser 6 content that was already on my system in an external runtime).

I uninstalled Poser 6 first, then deleted everything that was still left under /e Frontier/Poser 6 , before reinstalling.

And I've got exactly the same problem again.

Any thoughts?