30177 2017-09-04 19:06:08 +0000 Unexpected DOCTYPE declaration error 2017-09-11 18:15:58 +0000 1 1 1 Unclassified Validator check 1.1 PC Windows NT NEW P2 normal --- 1 nodropshots dave.null rich www-validator-cvs oldest_to_newest 128876 0 nodropshots 2017-09-04 19:06:08 +0000 I am getting the following w3c error when checking my html document: Error Line 1, Column 1: end of document in prolog <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML … ✉ This error may appear when the validator receives an empty document. Please make sure that the document you are uploading is not empty, and report any discrepancy. The xml instructions comes from an include (inc) file: <?php echo "<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>"; ?> as do the doctype declaration specifications: <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> The beginning of the html documents contains the following text: <?php error_reporting(E_ALL); ?> <?php include("includes/xml_instr.inc"); ?> <?php include("includes/map_doc_type.inc"); ?> I have not changed the two include files for years, and have never seen this w3c error message. In fact, the same error is encountered now on html web pages generated several years ago, which never had the error. Has something changed recently in the w3c validator to cause this error? If not, what am I doing wrong? 128877 1 rich 2017-09-05 05:25:10 +0000 I have had the same experience. Starting today, all my pages which used to validate correctly are now giving this error message: Error Line 1, Column 1: end of document in prolog <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> This error may appear when the validator receives an empty document. Please make sure that the document you are uploading is not empty, and report any discrepancy. The pages haven't changed, so the validator must have. A browser still displays the pages correctly, so I am certain they are not empty. - Rich 128878 2 nodropshots 2017-09-05 21:18:02 +0000 Problem is now fixed. Same html files that generated the error yesterday no longer do so. Thanks to whoever for the quick response. 128879 3 rich 2017-09-07 15:35:04 +0000 I agree that it has been fixed. My same pages that gave this error now validate correctly. 128888 4 rich 2017-09-11 18:15:58 +0000 It's BACK again. As of 2017-09-11 18:13 UTC, attempting to validate my page http://www.richpasco.org/ gives: Validation Output: 1 Error Error Line 1, Column 1: end of document in prolog <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> This error may appear when the validator receives an empty document. Please make sure that the document you are uploading is not empty, and report any discrepancy.