Altova XMLSpy 2025 Enterprise Edition

       F7

The XML | Check well-formedness (F7) command checks the active document for well-formedness by the definitions of the XML 1.0 specification. Every XML document must be well-formed. XMLSpy checks for well-formedness whenever a document is opened or saved, or when the view is changed from Text View to any other view. You can also check for well-formedness at any time while editing by using this command.

If the well-formedness check succeeds, a message is displayed in the Messages window (screenshot below).

If an error is encountered during the well-formedness check, a corresponding error message is displayed (screenshot below).

Note that errors in the Messages window are displayed one error at a time.

Validating from the Project window

The Validate command can also be applied to a file, folder, or group of files in the active project. Select the required file or folder in the Project Window (by clicking on it). Then click XML | Validate XML. You can also use the Validate XML on Server (high-performance) command. Invalid files in a project will be opened and made active in the Main Window, and the File is not valid error message will be displayed.

It is generally not permitted to save a malformed XML document, but XMLSpy gives you a Save Anyway option. This is useful when you want to suspend your work temporarily (in a not well-formed condition) and resume it later.