4.4.8 & handling of internal PE.

• From: Eduardo Pelegri-Llopart <pelegri@Eng.Sun.COM>
• Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 13:15:10 -0800
• To: xml-editor@w3.org
• CC: pelegri@calterra.Eng.Sun.COM, db@Eng.Sun.COM
• Message-Id: <199812112115.NAA17751@calterra.eng.sun.com>

Dear XML editors,

Section 4.4.8 of REC-xml-19980210 indicates:

"Just as with external parsed entities, parameter entities need only
 be included if validating."

This can be read as indicating that internal parameter entities need
not be included by a non-validating XML processor.  Both Dave Brownell
and myself think that this sentence may perhaps be intended to be say
"external parameter entities".

Consider the following XML document:

! DOCTYPE foo [
    <! ENTITY % ent1 "&#60! ENTITY hi 'hello'> ">
    %ent1;
    <! ENTITY hi "bye">
]>

..... &hi; ....


If internal parameter entities may not be included by a non-validating
processor, then one conformant non-validating XML processors can
produce "bye" while another can produce "hello".  This seems quite
confusing.


In either case, it is probably useful to clarify what the intent of
4.4.8 is: whether it refers to all parameter entities or just to
external parameter entities.

Thanks,

	-eduard/o

Received on Friday, 11 December 1998 16:15:18 UTC