Re: [xml-dev] More questions about conformance and entities

[Jeff Rafter <lists@jeffrafter.com>]

> This is ok, because there is no comment here.  There will only be a
> comment if f is referenced at the top-level of the DTD, and at that
> point the start and end of the comment will both be in the same parameter
> entity (f).

So that would apply similarly to:

Doc1.dtd
========
<!ENTITY % e "<!ELEMENT foo ">
<!ENTITY % f "%e;(#PCDATA)*>">

and:

Doc2.dtd
========
<!ENTITY % e "<!ELEMENT foo ">
<!ENTITY % f "(#PCDATA)*>">
<!ENTITY % g "%e;%f;">

but not:

Doc3.dtd
========
<!ENTITY % e "<!ELEMENT foo ">
<!ENTITY % f "(#PCDATA)*>">
%e;%g;

Which is a violation. Is that right? If so it makes me think that there 
is no reason whatsoever to process the contents of a parameter entity 
literal until it is referenced in markup (e.g. between markup decls, 
part of a content spec). Any time it is referenced within some literal 
(e.g., default attribute value, entity literal) it will always be okay? 
It doesn't sound right to me based on some of the VC wording-- but if it 
is I am willing to take it and run...

Thanks again for any more clarification.

Jeff Rafter