Validating Local Documents
Validating a local document or a local file is quick and easy (you can also validate a URL)!
To validate a document on the hard drive or on a network drive, follow these directions:
- Make sure that CSE HTML Validator is running. It can be launched from the Start Menu.
- Choose File->Open to open the document (more ways to open a document).
- Press F6 to validate the document (more ways to validate a document).
The results of the validation will appear in the Results Window. If you are using the standard or professional edition, then select the Messages tab in the Results Window to see the main validation messages. If you are using the lite edition, then there are no tabs that you can click on in the Results Window.
Click on a message in the Results Window to view the complete message in the Message Window and to make HTML Validator highlight the part of the document that caused the message to be generated. Note that not all messages when clicked will cause a part of the document to be highlighted because not all messages have an associated character and line number. Some messages, such as comments, do not have an associated character and line number and will not cause any part of the document to be highlighted when the message is selected.
To navigate through the messages, simply click on them with the mouse or use Alt+Up and Alt+Down (Up and Down refer to the cursor keys).
NOTE: By default, not all messages are displayed in the Messages tab. For example, messages related to accessibility may be displayed in the Accessibility tab. Messages related to CSS may be displayed in the Styles tab. You may have to click on one of these tabs to see all the validator messages.
Also see the Results Window topic for more information about what is displayed in the Results Window.
Note that you can disable the validator messages that you don't want to see.
Continuing to Correct Problems
After you look at all the validator messages and edit the document to correct any problems that are found, the document can be revalidated (F6) to update the validator messages. Continue editing the document and revalidating it until the validation results are satisfactory. It is recommended that you start correcting problems at the top of the document.
After correcting one or more problems, you can revalidate the document to see the effect. Often, fixing one problem results in eliminating more than one error message. This is because an error can have a "cascading effect" that causes other error messages to be generated further down in the document. | 
