Weird Internal Compiler Error message

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KristinRandle
Propeller Head
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2007 1:04 pm

Weird Internal Compiler Error message

Post by KristinRandle »

When compiling, I get the following message:

Description: Name cannot begin with the '<' character, hexadecimal value 0x3C. Line 419, position 2.
File: no info

Without a file name, I cannot figure out which topic has the error. How do I find out which topic has this error. We have very few topics with over 419 lines. The topic it generated prior to the error does not have a problem. The topic it may have generated after the error doesn't either.

any ideas?
KevinDAmery
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Location: Darn, I knew I was around here somewhere...

Re: Weird Internal Compiler Error message

Post by KevinDAmery »

I can think of two things to try.

1) Really obvious, but just to be thorough: you don't actually have any files that are named with a < as the first character, do you? If you do, well, don't do that, Windows doesn't like it....

2) It's possible that a tag was edited in a text editor at some stage and someone added a < character by accident (finger-fumbles happen to the best of us...) Try doing a search in source code for "< and << and see what it comes up with.
Until next time....
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elad1
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Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:20 am

Re: Weird Internal Compiler Error message

Post by elad1 »

Whether this will help anyone or not, I came across this same problem and error message. We resolved the problem by going back over recently changed files and discovered it was coming from a .png file that had been edited in Capture and updated to the Flare product. This particular image had a conflict with a previous version that had to be resolved prior to updating. After we deleted the file, the build went normally.

As it turns out, the file name itself (or text in the file, as it was an image) has nothing to do with this error message. As far as we can tell, it occured when generating code as part of the build. Since the build crashes, any xml or html code that could be troubleshot is lost. My theory is when the software attemps to munge the .png into something useable, it creates a hex 3C or '<' character out of the image...after all a .png file is '1's and '0's just like anything else. As the '<' is a protected character in xml and html, it thinks it is part of the generated code and gags on it.

One other thing to help in troubleshooting if you are getting this error. After we made a list of recently changed files, we opened each one to check them out. When we opened the offending .png file, we discovered it would open using Paint or MS Picture Manager. When we opened it in Capture or Flare, it gave the same error message. Make sure you analyze suspect files in other MadCap products while troubleshooting.
Mishou6779
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Posts: 57
Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 9:19 am

Re: Weird Internal Compiler Error message

Post by Mishou6779 »

Thank you for this post! Saved my day!

I kept getting an error message that said, "Name cannot begin with the '<' character, hexadecimal value 0x3C, Line 6, position 2."

The supposed problem file was a .png file--one that I had not edited in quite some time, and I'm a lone writer, so I'm not sure how or why Flare thought it had changed. We recently started using TortoiseSVN and Subversion. Don't know if that has anything to do with it but I've had several "fixes" to go through since we added my Flare projects to Subversion.

At any rate, the problem file was a copy of a snippet file that I use in a couple of other projects, so I deleted it from the problem project and copied the "clean" version back in from another problem-free project, and voila. Fixed the problem!

Just wanted to chime in since the original post was from 2009, and because Subversion adds a little bit different twist to the story.
Paulie
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Re: Weird Internal Compiler Error message

Post by Paulie »

If you ever come across an error like that, run a critical issues report. There's bound to be an invalid xml file somewhere, which should surface in the report.
"In an ideal world, software should be simple, well designed, and completely intuitive to end users. In the real world, good documentation is king."
S_Kruse
Jr. Propeller Head
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jan 30, 2020 8:43 am

Re: Weird Internal Compiler Error message

Post by S_Kruse »

When using version control, merging can leave HEAD marks in the files. It helped me to search my project for "<<< HEAD" to find defect files. After solving the conflicts, build went fine.
katrinabmg
Jr. Propeller Head
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Feb 22, 2017 9:22 am

Re: Weird Internal Compiler Error message

Post by katrinabmg »

I also had this issue in a flimphtml file and it also looks to be related to version control leaving behind some weird information that breaks the xhtml. <<<<<< >>>>> with dates and .mine type messages. I was able to edit the messed up files in a text editor to get them back to valid xml.
RobSwanson
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Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2020 11:02 am

Re: Weird Internal Compiler Error message

Post by RobSwanson »

How do you run a critical error report if you can't open it in Flare or Lingo?
doloremipsum
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Re: Weird Internal Compiler Error message

Post by doloremipsum »

@RobSwanson You shouldn't need to open the particular file that's broken, you can run the issues report for the entire project from the Analysis ribbon.
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