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bravotango

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XML files not rendering properly in browser

Really wierd problem here and I would be really grateful if an expert could sort it out.

I received a download of a service manual for a cordless phone and it consists of a folder full of graphic, xml, css, javascript and a couple of html files.

The entire manual can be accessed by one html file called index.html but from there all the main files are xml files.

The problem is that no matter what browser I use I just get junk on the browser pages like endless text with no line feeds. No styles or graphics are rendered.

However I do have a HTML editor called CoffeeCup and it has a preview setup and in CoffeeCup preview I see all the documents and graphics like they are meant to be viewed.

Is there some simple adjustment that would render the files correctly in a browser. I tried Firefox, Chrome and IE and they are all the same.

I can provide a couple of files if required to see the problem, say the index and just one xml file. I have also tried converting a few of the xml files to html but it is time consuming.
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Montoya

Kinda tough, without seeing what you have, but you can try the following info to see if it help you. Basically this shows you how to do a global reset and add some cross browser compatibility.

https://www.tinfoilsecurity.com/blog/cross-browser-development-tips-css
generally xml files need to be converted to HTML on the server using xslt. the raw xml files are generally not going to be formatted or styled because they do not contain information the browser can use to do the job. The preview in Coffeecup works because it has built functions for generating HTML.

If you want it to display in a normal browser, I would suggest that you contact the vendor who supplied the manual to see if you are missing a component, or have to take some step to generate from the materials they supplied.

Cd&
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ASKER

OK guys, I'm sorry I should have given a bit more information. The xml files are not true xml files but contain many html tags preceded with "html:" and I have never seen that before.
I will include the initial xml file.
Hope this helps.
I should also say this does not concern web development but for reading html files on the desktop.
KM40405444C1-01.xml
Do you have the original link to the manual for your phone?

Did it open and display as an online manual when you clicked the link, or did all the files come in a ZIP file?

If they were in a ZIP file, have the files been extracted to different sub-folders or all into the same folder as index.html?
I do have the original link which is only good for 48 hours and it was a ZIP file.
After extracting the files I deleted a couple of the top level folders which seemed superfluous. I have tried unzipping with all the folders to the root level and the problem persists.
Maybe I should go back to the provider and complain there but I have successfully converted over half of the xml files to html and I can view the manual with CoffeeCup.
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BillDL
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I thank you experts for your comments. It seems these files are not what they seem.
As I already said I have converted over half of them to html and CoffeeCup does an amazing job of viewing them so it's just my good luck I had CoffeeCup and also a basic knowledge of HTML otherwise I would have had a useless manual.
I go along with the suggestion that some additional app such as CoffeeCup was needed to view the manual.
Thank you all and have a happy Christmas.
I suspected this was a difficult question and commend you experts for taking time to resolve it.
Thank you bravotango
The Questions where there is no easy answer are the most interesting; and it is always better to be challenged.

Cd&