How do you find mismatched tags in HTML?

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297

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+3 Q:

How do you find mismatched tags in HTML?

I've inherited some rather large static HTML files that need to be fixed up to work in webkit-based browsers, Safari in particular. One of the common bugs I've found that cause rendering differences is missing </div> tags. (Both IE7+ and FF3+ seem to ignore these, or make good guesses as to where to close the DIVs, and render as expected.) I'm used to using vim with HTML syntax highlighting for editing, but end up writing awk scripts to match starting and ending tags.

What is your favorite tool or technique for matching start and end tags in a large HTML file?

UPDATE: I'm currently in a shop that targets HTML 4.01 Strict, not XHTML.

+2 A:

The w3c Validator can be (extremely) verbose, but it does check for missing closing tags.

Triptych 2009-09-15 15:04:25

+5 A:

The W3C HTML Validator works fairly well, or if you want something a little simpler then the Tidy FireFox plugin also works.

Brandon 2009-09-15 15:04:48

THANKS, I just tried out FireFox "HTML Validator" and it is great. My cravings for simplicity and effectiveness are satisfied.

Smandoli 2009-09-15 16:35:09

No problem, but if you're satisified your question has been resolved, please remember to mark the question as answered.

Brandon 2009-09-15 16:42:07

@Brandon: I was just waiting a bit to see what other answers came in.

system PAUSE 2009-09-15 17:20:15

@system PAUSE, actually I confused you with Smandoli. I thought this was his question, my mistake :P

Brandon 2009-09-15 17:45:17

+2 A:

Most IDE's usually let you know via highlighting, fuzzy-underline or a warning.

Dominic Bou-Samra 2009-09-15 15:05:21

+1 A:

HTML Tidy is a great command line tool. I often use it with WGet

bryanbcook 2009-09-15 15:07:12

What is your favorite tool or technique for matching start and end tags in a large HTML file?

A text editor with a built-in XML well-formedness checker, combined with using XHTML for everything.

bobince 2009-09-15 15:39:09

Would like to know which ones you favor.

Smandoli 2009-09-15 15:54:30

I used to use one of the plugins for EmEditor on Windows.

bobince 2009-09-15 16:52:16

+1 A:

vim/gvim & NetBeans both do a great job of tag matching

Mike 2009-09-16 10:58:17

I've followed the exact instructions in ":help matchit", but % still doesn't work for me in vim (Cygwin).

system PAUSE 2009-09-16 18:05:21

It's hard to say what's wrong, you might try this http://www.catonmat.net/blog/vim-plugins-matchit-vim/ or download gvim for Windoze and not go through cygwin.

Mike 2009-09-17 11:46:25

@Mike, I've rephrased my complaint as a question at http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1440292. Feel free to answer there.

system PAUSE 2009-09-17 17:44:03

ansaurus

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How do you find mismatched tags in HTML?

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