What does Windows error code 14040 (ERROR_SXS_XML_E_UNBALANCEDPAREN) mean?

 
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ERROR_SXS_XML_E_MISSINGSEMICOLON ERROR_SXS_XML_E_INTERNALERROR

ERROR_SXS_XML_E_UNBALANCEDPAREN

ERROR_SXS_XML_E_UNBALANCEDPAREN (0x000036D8) is a Windows Side-by-Side XML parser status for application, assembly, policy, or configuration manifest processing.

This status reports that a parenthesized grammar construct opened and closed inconsistently. In XML, the usual relevant structures are DTD content models and declaration forms rather than ordinary application-manifest attributes.

Parser boundary

Content models can contain nested choices and sequences whose parentheses must balance. A parser that reaches a closing parenthesis without the matching open state, or finishes the construct with an unmatched open parenthesis, cannot build the declaration grammar.

What to inspect

  • Count nested parentheses within the declaration named by the trace position instead of searching normal element text globally.
  • Check generated DTD fragments for concatenation that dropped one side of a parenthesized choice or sequence.
  • Question why DTD markup is present in the SxS manifest at all if the application build did not intentionally generate it.

Capture the first Side-by-Side parser event and inspect the declaration around that location; adding parentheses to unrelated manifest values will only hide the real source.

References


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