Welcome to the community, @Ash! It’s always good to validate your xlsform through this online validator. This online validator should help you identify you the syntax errors that are present within your xlsform.
Yes, as said we do have a lot of simple workaround that has been discussed and shared in the community previously. You could have a look at them. It should help you better understand the concept of how a cascading select is designed through an xlsform.
A simple workaround (when you have a single layer):
A bit complex workaround (when you have multiple layers):
In addition you could also have a look at our support article Adding Cascading Select Questions.
