The content of element type “…” must match in web.xml

40
votes

I have a problem with my web.xml file. The error:

The content of element type "web-app" must match "(icon?,display-name?,description?,distributable?,context-param*,filter*,filter- mapping*,listener*,servlet*,servlet-mapping*,session-config?,mime-mapping*,welcome-file-list?,error-page*,taglib*,resource-env- ref*,resource-ref*,security-constraint*,login-config?,security-role*,env-entry*,ejb-ref*,ejb-local-ref*)".

However, my web.xml file is in the order what error say.

Here is my web.xml:

<!DOCTYPE web-app PUBLIC
         "-//Sun Microsystems, Inc.//DTD Web Application 2.3//EN"
         "http://java.sun.com/dtd/web-app_2_3.dtd" >

<web-app>
    <display-name>Archetype Created Web Application</display-name>

    <context-param>
        <param-name>javax.faces.STATE_SAVING_METHOD</param-name>
        <param-value>client</param-value>
        <description>State saving method: 'client' or 'server' (=default). See JSF Specification 2.5.2</description>
    </context-param>
      
    <context-param>
        <param-name>javax.servlet.jsp.jstl.fmt.localizationContext</param-name>
        <param-value>resources.application</param-value>
        <description></description>
    </context-param>

    <servlet>
        <servlet-name>Faces Servlet</servlet-name>
        <servlet-class>javax.faces.webapp.FacesServlet</servlet-class>
        <load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
    </servlet>
      
    <servlet-mapping>
        <servlet-name>Faces Servlet</servlet-name>
        <url-pattern>/faces/*</url-pattern>
    </servlet-mapping>

    <welcome-file-list>
        <welcome-file>index.html</welcome-file>
        <welcome-file>index.htm</welcome-file>
        <welcome-file>index.jsp</welcome-file>
        <welcome-file>default.html</welcome-file>
        <welcome-file>default.htm</welcome-file>
        <welcome-file>default.jsp</welcome-file>
    </welcome-file-list>

</web-app>

I use WebLogic 10.3.4. Any idea about the problem?

10
eclipseweb.xml
Yeah, the order of this file screws me over regularly. According to the DTD snippet you posted, the welcome-file-list should appear after the servlet and servlet mappings. Try that. - Faelkle
No, it is not the problem. the order of the tags perfectly fits to the DTD. - erencan
Sure? the DTD states that the welcome-file-list comes after servlet-mapping - it's later in the comma-separated list of elements. - Faelkle
yes i am sure. i changed it. i have still same problem. - erencan
Well I'm at a loss then - that's the only thing I can see wrong with it :/ - Faelkle

10 Answers

76
votes

One very simple solution which solves my problem.

Change the schema reference from

<!DOCTYPE web-app PUBLIC
   "-//Sun Microsystems, Inc.//DTD Web Application 2.3//EN"
   "http://java.sun.com/dtd/web-app_2_3.dtd" >

<web-app></web-app>

to this

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

<web-app xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee" 
         version="2.5" 
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" 
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_2_5.xsd"> 
         // ...
         // your all content goes here

</web-app>
20
votes

I had the same problem in Eclipse, after re-order tags as DTD, the error goes way. You may also try to restart Eclipse.

8
votes

I observed that DTD at Web.xml required an specific order for elements servlet, servlet-mapping, etc.

So, I started adding each element from Design View of XML file at ECLIPSE.

It works!. You can build your XML file in a way it likes to DTD.

6
votes

I just removed <!DOCTYPE .. > tag and it worked for me. Actually I don't know how much important..

4
votes

I followed someone's suggestion for "copy all" - "cut" - "paste" - "save" and this seemed to clear up the message. Comparing the before and after files, I found that in the "pasted" version all tabs had been converted to spaces. So it seems that the web.xml validator in Eclipse does not like tabs.

2
votes

rearrange your code like this...

<web-app>
  <display-name>Archetype Created Web Application</display-name>

  <welcome-file-list>
    <welcome-file>index.html</welcome-file>
    <welcome-file>index.htm</welcome-file>
    <welcome-file>index.jsp</welcome-file>
    <welcome-file>default.html</welcome-file>
    <welcome-file>default.htm</welcome-file>
    <welcome-file>default.jsp</welcome-file>
  </welcome-file-list>

 <context-param>   
    <param-name>javax.faces.STATE_SAVING_METHOD</param-name>
    <param-value>client</param-value>
    <description>State saving method: 'client' or 'server' (=default). See JSF Specification 2.5.2</description>
  </context-param>

  <context-param>
    <param-name>javax.servlet.jsp.jstl.fmt.localizationContext</param-name>
    <param-value>resources.application</param-value>
    <description></description>>
  </context-param>

  <servlet>
    <servlet-name>Faces Servlet</servlet-name>
    <servlet-class>javax.faces.webapp.FacesServlet</servlet-class>
    <load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
  </servlet>
 <servlet-mapping>
   <servlet-name>Faces Servlet</servlet-name>
   <url-pattern>/faces/*</url-pattern>
 </servlet-mapping>

and if you have more servlet then define your servlet above the mapping then map your servlet after that.

2
votes

This part was removed and errors were solved.

<!DOCTYPE web-app PUBLIC "-//Sun Microsystems, Inc.//DTD Web Application 2.3//EN"  "http://java.sun.com/dtd/web-app_2_3.dtd" >
1
votes

If you are dealing with this same issue and find nothing at all wrong with web.xml syntax, I recommend doing the following: "cut (all content within web.xml)", "paste to notepad" - "copy from notepad" - "paste back into web.xml" - "and finally save web.xml". Got to love those invisible characters, tabs, etc.

1
votes

Finally i resolved this issue by configuring servlet and servlet-mapping by using design view in eclipse instead of typing directly in the web.xml in source view. Hope this helps.

1
votes

Just don't forget to save the file when trying the above solutions. The error went away in my case after using the latest schema descriptor and saving :

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<web-app xmlns="http://xmlns.jcp.org/xml/ns/javaee"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://xmlns.jcp.org/xml/ns/javaee http://xmlns.jcp.org/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_3_1.xsd"
    id="WebApp_ID" version="3.1">

    <!-- your content here -->

</web-app>`