MuntashirAkon/AppManager · error · org.xmlpull.v1.XmlPullParserException

Not at START_TAG

Error message

Not at START_TAG

What it means

XmlPullParserException from isEmptyElementTag() when the parser's current token is not START_TAG. Emptiness is only meaningful on an open start tag; the method's default branch throws with the literal message "Not at START_TAG".

Source

Thrown at libcore/compat/src/main/java/io/github/muntashirakon/compat/xml/BinaryXmlPullParser.java:570

    }

    @Override
    public String getPrefix() {
        // Prefixes are not supported
        return null;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isEmptyElementTag() throws XmlPullParserException {
        switch (mCurrentToken) {
            case START_TAG:
                try {
                    return (peekNextExternalToken() == END_TAG);
                } catch (IOException e) {
                    throw new XmlPullParserException(e.toString());
                }
            default:
                throw new XmlPullParserException("Not at START_TAG");
        }
    }

    @Override
    public int getAttributeCount() {
        return mAttributeCount;
    }

    @Override
    public String getAttributeNamespace(int index) {
        // Namespaces are unsupported
        return NO_NAMESPACE;
    }

    @Override
    public String getAttributeName(int index) {
        return mAttributes[index].name;
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to 0152f468fc)

Solutions

1. Check getEventType() == XmlPullParser.START_TAG before calling isEmptyElementTag()
2. Ensure next()/nextToken() has advanced to the start tag you intend to inspect
3. Restructure loops to test the event type before calling token-specific accessors
4. Use require(START_TAG, null, name) which throws a more descriptive mismatch message

Example fix

// before
boolean empty = parser.isEmptyElementTag();
// after
if (parser.getEventType() == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
    boolean empty = parser.isEmptyElementTag();
} else {
    throw new IllegalStateException("isEmptyElementTag called while not at START_TAG");
}

if (parser.getEventType() != XmlPullParser.START_TAG) throw new IllegalStateException("isEmptyElementTag() requires START_TAG");

try { boolean empty = parser.isEmptyElementTag(); } catch (XmlPullParserException e) { boolean empty = false; // not at START_TAG }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling isEmptyElementTag() while on TEXT, END_TAG, START_DOCUMENT, END_DOCUMENT, or any non-START_TAG token; calling it after next() already consumed the start tag; calling it twice in a row (state unchanged is fine, but after advancing it fails).

Common situations: Assuming the parser sits on START_TAG inside a generic token loop; forgetting isEmptyElementTag() does not advance and pairing it with next() incorrectly; checking emptiness of the document root before the first next().

Understand the failure class

Background: "Invalid state transition" errors: "status must be X, actually Y", "already rejected/charging/uninstalled", "cannot ... while running" — what they mean when a library rejects your call — this error's family across 31 libraries.

Related errors

• Not applicable for token ${mCurrentToken}
• ${getPositionDescription()}
• Namespaces are not supported
• Invalid attribute ${name}: ${e}
• Invalid conversion from ${type}

AI-assisted analysis of MuntashirAkon/AppManager@0152f468fc (2026-09-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/90a7853a05f88779. Report an issue: GitHub.