XML parser error: entity not defined

[MikeM]

I wrote a simple XML file and a DTD file including an entity, but when I want to check it in my browsers I get the message:

XML parser error: entity not defined.
Address: file:///Users/Mike/Documents/fb.xml
Row 8, column 22

I tried to find an answer, most refer to an add-on problem with Firefox. I, however, get this message in Firefox, Chrome and Safari. (Opera doesn't give me a message, but it doesn't show the correct text replacement either.) I work on Mac OS X 10.7.

Here are my files.
DTD:

Code: Select all

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!ELEMENT example (some_list) >

<!ELEMENT some_list (item+)>

<!ELEMENT item (element1, element2)>

<!ELEMENT element1 (#PCDATA) >

<!ELEMENT element2 (#PCDATA) >

<!ENTITY entity1 "1234567890" >

XML:

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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!DOCTYPE some_list SYSTEM "Allgemeine_Entities.dtd">

<some_list>

    <item>

        <element1>Some Text</element1>

        <element2>more Text and &entity1;</element2>

    </item>

</some_list>

As the problem appears in all my browsers, I assume it is not a browser specific problem.

Thanks for your input.

[adrian]

Hi,

This happens because currently no web browser supports external entities.
For Mozilla:
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=22942

I see that at least for Firefox and Chrome there is a workaround. Declare the entities in the internal subset, in the XML.
e.g.

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<!DOCTYPE some_list SYSTEM "Allgemeine_Entities.dtd" [

<!ENTITY entity1 "1234567890" >

]>

Regards,
Adrian

[MikeM]

Hey Adrian,

Thank you very much for this very helpful answer. Excellent.

Regards,
Mike

[djheru]

Thanks for this! I was banging my head against the wall trying to figure out why my externally defined entities were not being pulled into the browser.