Why Does SCORM Upload Result in Error: "Whitespace Not Allowed"?

Keywords:

SCORM, SCO, Upload Error, Import Error, Content Package, Content Package Library, Whitespace

Symptom:

Administrator receives “Error: Whitespace not allowed at this location” message when uploading a SCORM package.  

Cause:

The imsmanifest.xml file contained within the content package (.ZIP file) has invalid whitespace preventing the file from being successfully parsed upon upload.

Background:

The imsmanifest.xml file is essentially the “table of contents” that the LMS reads from the package. The authoring tool builds this file (usually from the names and titles that you enter), but rarely validates all of the characters to ensure that the formatting is valid and can be parsed when uploaded into the LMS. Please note that this issue is frequently caused by names and titles that contain ampersands.

Resolution:

Open the imsmanifest.xml file in Internet Explorer to locate the error(s). Internet Explorer validates the XML file against the XML formatting rules just like Inquisiq would upon upload:

1. Right-click on the content package (.ZIP file) to extract all of the files from the content package.
2. Select “Extract All.”
3. Locate the imsmanifest.xml file.
4. Open Internet Explorer.
5. Drag and drop the imsmanifest.xml file into the middle of the Internet Explorer page.
6. You should then see an “XML Page Cannot Be Displayed” error message with the error listed below.
7. Identify the errors and correct them in your content package (.ZIP file).

Repackage your content package (.ZIP file) ensuring that the imsmanifest.xml file is in the root.