Description of an update for Microsoft XML Core Services 4.0 Service Pack 2

BUG #: 118145 (Content Maintenance)BUG #: 332758 (SQLBUVSTS)

Symptoms

When you visit a Web site or run an application that loads XHTML documents by using Microsoft XML Core Services (MSXML), MSXML will send requests to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to fetch well-known Document Type Definition (DTD) files every time. This behavior may bring lots of traffic to the W3C server. Sometimes, you may find the XHTML files are not loaded successfully because the DTD requests are blocked by the W3C server.For example, you have a JavaScript file (.js) that contains the following code:

function pullXHtml() {
  var xml = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.DOMDocument.4.0");
  xml.async = false;
  xml.loadXML(
    "<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN\" \"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd\">" +
    "<html xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml' xml:lang='en' lang='en'><head><title>simple document</title></head>" +
    "<body><p>a simple paragraph</p></body></html>");
  if (xml.parseError.errorCode != 0) {
    var myErr = xml.parseError;
    WScript.Echo("ERROR:" + myErr.reason);
  } else {
    WScript.echo("The XHTML document was loaded successfully.");
  }
}

pullXHtml();

When you run the JavaScript file, the file loads an XHTML document by using MSXML. If you do not have this update installed, you may receive the following error message when you run the JavaScript file if the DTD requests are blocked by the W3C server:

ERROR: The server did not understand the request, or the request was invalid.Error processing resource'http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd'.

After you install this update, the JavaScript file will run successfully and you will receive the following message:

The XHTML document was loaded successfully.Note

After you apply this update, MSXML caches the DTD files locally to reduce the number of requests that are sent to the W3C server.
After you install this update, you may be prompted to restart your computer.
If you install the update in Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, or in Windows 7, you must run the setup file as an administrator.
For more information about XHTML and the Document Type Definitions (DTD), see the "More information" section.

Resolution

Update information

How to determine the MSXML version

To determine the MSXML version that is installed on your computer, follow these steps:

Locate the Msxml4.dll file in the following directory: C:\Windows\System32
Right-click the Msxml4.dll file, and then click Properties.
Click the Version tab to see the version information. Note In Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows Server 2008, click the Details tab instead.

How to obtain this update

This update will be installed automatically by Windows Update. However, you can also install this update manually by downloading the appropriate package. There are several packages that contain this fix. Those packages were released for the following different installation scenarios:

KB articles	Installation scenarios	Update packages	MSXML versions	Supported operating systems
973688 Description of an update for Microsoft XML Core Services 4.0 Service Pack 2	MSXML 4.0 was installed by an application, or manually installed by yourself. To apply this hotfix, you must have MSXML 4.0 SP2 installed.	Download the update package now.	MSXML 4.0 SP2	Windows 7; Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2; Windows Server 2008; Windows Server 2008 R2; Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2; Windows Vista; Windows Vista Service Pack 1; Windows Vista Service Pack 2; Windows XP Service Pack 2; Windows XP Service Pack
973686 Description of an update for Microsoft MSXML Core Services 6.0 Service Pack 2	MSXML 6.0 was installed by an application, or manually installed by yourself. To apply this hotfix, you must have MSXML 6.0 SP2 installed.	Download the update package now.	MSXML 6.0 SP2	Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2; Windows XP Service Pack 2
973685 Description of an update for Microsoft XML Core Services 4.0 Service Pack 3	MSXML 4.0 was installed by an application, or manually installed by yourself. To apply this hotfix, you must have MSXML 4.0 SP3 installed.	Download the update package now.	MSXML 4.0 SP3	Windows 7; Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2; Windows Server 2008; Windows Server 2008 R2; Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2; Windows Vista; Windows Vista Service Pack 1; Windows Vista Service Pack 2; Windows XP Service Pack 2; Windows XP Service Pack 3
973687 Description of updates for Microsoft MSXML Core Services 3.0 and MSXML Core Services 6.0	MSXML3 and MSXML6 were installed by the operating system	Download the update package now.	MSXML 3.0 and MSXML 6.0	Windows XP SP3
		Download the update package now.	MSXML 3.0	Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
		Download the update package now.	MSXML 3.0	Windows Server 2003 SP2
		Download the update package now.	MSXML 3.0	Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 x64 Edition
		Download the update package now.	MSXML 3.0	Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 for Itanium-based Systems
		Download the update package now.	MSXML 3.0 and MSXML 6.0	Windows Vista, Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Vista SP2
		Download the update package now.	MSXML 3.0 and MSXML 6.0	Windows Vista 64-bit Editions, Windows Vista 64-bit Editions SP1 and Windows Vista SP2
		Download the update package now.	MSXML 3.0 and MSXML 6.0	Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 SP2
		Download the update package now.	MSXML 3.0 and MSXML 6.0	Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition and Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition SP2
		Download the update package now.	MSXML 3.0 and MSXML 6.0	Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems SP2

For more information about how to download Microsoft support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

119591 How to obtain Microsoft support files from online services Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

File information

The English version of this update has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel.

For all supported x86-based versions of Windows XP, of Windows Server 2003, of Windows Vista, of Windows Server 2008, of Windows Server 2008 R2, and of Windows 7

File name	File version	File size	Date	Time
Msxml4.dll	4.20.9876.0	1,348,432	20-Jul-2009	16:05
Msxml4a.dll	4.10.9404.0	53,768	20-Jul-2009	16:05
Msxml4r.dll	4.10.9404.0	91,656	20-Jul-2009	16:05

More Information

For more information about Document Type Definitions, visit the following Web site:

http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/dtds.htmlFor more information about XHTML, visit the following Web site:

http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/For more information about MSXML, visit the following Microsoft Developer Network Web site:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms763742(VS.85).aspx For more information about the list of Microsoft XML Parser (MSXML) versions, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

269238 List of Microsoft XML Parser (MSXML) versions

References

For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

954459 MS08-069: Description of the security update for XML Core Services 6.0: November 11, 2008 For more information about software update terminology, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

824684 Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates