Critical database error, invalid attribute character

[Sissel]

Hi there - I'm rather new when it comes to using Analyzer but thought it a good idea when upgrading to Flare v4. Trouble is, I've got 3 critical database errors that I cannot identify - they're all the same but in different parts of the individual files:
" '<', hexadecimal value 0x3C, is an invalid attribute character. Line 1, position 527."
Any clues? When I look at the tags, they all seem OK, everything builds and looks fine, so I'm confused...

Sissel

[LTinker68]

First thing that comes to mind is the quick character feature in Flare, where you can specify your own quick character (inserted using F11) and perhaps you entered the code incorrectly when you set it up. Every time you use that quick character feature then it inserts invalid code into the topic. You might want to look into that. Easiest way to narrow it down would be to create a brand new project from scratch and insert the quick character into the topic in the project, then run Analyzer on that project. If there's a problem with the quick character, then it'll find it in that one topic.

[Sissel]

Hi Lisa,

That sounds very likely, as I recall hitting F11 instead of F12 at some point. BUT I tried doing as you suggested, and Analyzer didn't pick up any critical errors on the new project I'm trying to compare the files in notepad and have managed to remove some superfluous tags, but that doesn't seem to help. And still the build looks fine...??

[LTinker68]

I suppose it could also be something in the stylesheet, because Flare doesn't properly support all valid stylesheet code. For instance, using * as a wildcard in a complex selector is valid, but Flare keeps converting that * to \0002A or something like that.

So it's possible there's something in the stylesheet that Flare/Analyzer doesn't realize is valid stylesheet code (which is why you don't have a problem with the output because the browsers properly translate the code). However, I would have expected it to throw the warning on the stylesheet file, not on the topics that might be calling that style.

Doubt that's it, but it's something else to check and rule out. Open the stylesheet in the Internal Text Editor and see if there are any odd characters in it.

Have you also tried deleting the Analyzer folder from the project? It'll take longer the next time you run Analyzer on the project since it'll have to start from scratch, but maybe something corrupted the database on a previous scan and it's just been coming back to that problem every time. Starting the analysis from scratch might clear out the problem.

[Sissel]

Hmm, doesn't seem to help either. Right now I'm waiting for a dev to upgrade to Flare4 and Analyzer2 to see if he gets the same problems - I also have another issue as every time I open Analyzer, it claims that my alias'es are unlinked, which they clearly are not. So if the dev get the same problems, I'll open a support case. But thanks for trying

[elad1]

We came across the same problem recently and were able to fix it. See my post here:

http://forums.madcapsoftware.com/viewto ... 712#p45948