org.xml.sax.SAXParseException: Content is not allowed in prolog

Question

I have a Java based web service client connected to Java web service (implemented on the Axis1 framework).

I am getting following exception in my log file:

Answer 1

For all those that get this error: WARNING: Catalina.start using conf/server.xml: Content is not allowed in prolog.

Not very informative.. but what this actually means is that there is garbage in your conf/server.xml file.

I have seen this exact error in other XML files.. this error can be caused by making changes with a text editor which introduces the garbage.

The way you can verify whether or not you have garbage in the file is to open it with a "HEX Editor" If you see any character before this string

     ""

like this would be garbage

     "‰ŠŒ"

that is your problem.... The Solution is to use a good HEX Editor.. One that will allow you to save files with differing types of encoding..

Then just save it as UTF-8. Some systems that use XML files may need it saved as UTF NO BOM Which means with "NO Byte Order Mark"

Hope this helps someone out there!!