XML declaration example

<?xml version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8" standalone = "yes"?>

XML document can optionally have an XML declaration. XML document without declaration is also valid

<student>
   <name>George</name>
   <city>Tbilisi</city>
   <phone>(011) 123-4567</phone>
</student>

If the XML declaration is included, it must contain version number attribute

<?xml encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<student>
   <name>George</name>
   <city>Tbilisi</city>
   <phone>(011) 123-4567</phone>
</student>

It will generate the following error:

error on line 1 at column 7: Malformed declaration expecting version

The names are always in lower case

<?xml Version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<student>
   <name>George</name>
   <city>Tbilisi</city>
   <phone>(011) 123-4567</phone>
</student>

It will generate the following error:

error on line 1 at column 7: Malformed declaration expecting version

The XML declaration must begin with

<?xml

<? version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<student>
   <name>George</name>
   <city>Tbilisi</city>
   <phone>(011) 123-4567</phone>
</student>

The following error will be generated:

error on line 1 at column 3: xmlParsePI : no target name

If document contains XML declaration, it must be the

first statement

<student>
   <name>George</name>
   <city>Tbilisi</city>
   <phone>(011) 123-4567</phone>
</student>
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>

The error will be the following:

error on line 6 at column 6: XML declaration allowed only at the start of the document

The order of placing the parameters is important. The correct order is:

version

,

encoding

and

standalone

<?xml encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no" version="1.0"?>
<student>
   <name>George</name>
   <city>Tbilisi</city>
   <phone>(011) 123-4567</phone>
</student>

This will generate the following error:

error on line 1 at column 7: Malformed declaration expecting version

Either single or double quotes may be used. Here is valid XML document

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8' standalone="no"?>
<student>
   <name>George</name>
   <city>Tbilisi</city>
   <phone>(011) 123-4567</phone>
</student>

An HTTP protocol can override the value of encoding that we put in the declaration.