How to handle ampersand (&) in 0.9.8

DanThompson · 05-13-2017, 09:35 PM

I use the character & in several places through my book, e.g. S&P 500.

When I first had it simply as the standalone &, I would get an error in the preview window pointing out that & is an escape code and should be followed by other characters or a # and then numbers. So I replaced it with & which is the HTML named code for that character.

However, when I save the file, "&" is replaced by "&amp;amp;"

I tried using "& # 38;" (without the spaces) instead, but on saving, it's replaced by "&#38;amp;"

Subsequent saves just make the chain that much longer.

Both & and & # 38;(without the spaces) are in my list of entities to preserve, along with various quotes, dashes, and ellipses. None of those others are affected. Only the ampersand is getting messed with.

I'm running 0.9.8. Is anyone else seeing this problem? Is there a workaround?

theducks · 05-13-2017, 11:01 PM

Have you tried using the special character tool (the omega)
typing IN CODE VIEW

Code:

&amp;

behaves as expected

also 0.9.8 W10 x64

DanThompson · 05-13-2017, 11:25 PM

I am using & in the code view, which is what the Omega tool gives me.
However, when the "mend HTML" option is checked during save or open, it's expanding it into nonsense like:

Code:

&amp;#38;amp;

And after the next save, it becomes:

Code:

&amp;#38;amp;#38;amp;

And so on.

I did find the workaround by turning off the HTML mending option on save/open, but this makes me think there's a bug in that code. None of the other special characters like — were altered.

DiapDealer · 05-14-2017, 06:27 AM

Remove the & and & from your Preserve Entities preferences. Sigil can deal with ampersands inherently. Also remember to turn your "Mend on Save/Open" back on.

Adding Preserve Entities entries for:

& / &
< / <
> / >

is unnecessary and will only serve to confuse/break things (as you've discovered). Those three entities are handled inherently/internally.

DanThompson · 05-14-2017, 03:14 PM

Except that it's *not* handling &'s natively. When I put one in the middle of a sentence, the preview window and book view give me this error:

Quote:

This page contains the following errors:

error on line 18 at column 152: Expected '#' or '[a-zA-Z]', but got ' '.
Below is a rendering of the page up to the first error.

Meaning it only knows how to deal with & as an escape code.

DanThompson · 05-14-2017, 03:24 PM

Wait, I think I see what you're saying. Once I removed & from the preserve entities, then & was fine in the text, not being altered by save/load/etc.

DiapDealer · 05-14-2017, 04:16 PM

Yes. Adding any of the ampersand or < or > entities to the Preserve Entities list is going to cause problems. I'll look into getting those specific ones ignored if they happen to get added to the Preserve Entities list.

05-13-2017, 09:35 PM	#1
DanThompson Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2017 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	How to handle ampersand (&) in 0.9.8 I use the character & in several places through my book, e.g. S&P 500. When I first had it simply as the standalone &, I would get an error in the preview window pointing out that & is an escape code and should be followed by other characters or a # and then numbers. So I replaced it with & which is the HTML named code for that character. However, when I save the file, "&" is replaced by "&amp;amp;" I tried using "& # 38;" (without the spaces) instead, but on saving, it's replaced by "&#38;amp;" Subsequent saves just make the chain that much longer. Both & and & # 38;(without the spaces) are in my list of entities to preserve, along with various quotes, dashes, and ellipses. None of those others are affected. Only the ampersand is getting messed with. I'm running 0.9.8. Is anyone else seeing this problem? Is there a workaround?

05-13-2017, 11:01 PM	#2
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 30,880 Karma: 59840450 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Have you tried using the special character tool (the omega) typing IN CODE VIEW Code: & behaves as expected also 0.9.8 W10 x64

05-14-2017, 06:27 AM	#4
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,338 Karma: 203719142 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	Remove the & and & from your Preserve Entities preferences. Sigil can deal with ampersands inherently. Also remember to turn your "Mend on Save/Open" back on. Adding Preserve Entities entries for: & / & < / < > / > is unnecessary and will only serve to confuse/break things (as you've discovered). Those three entities are handled inherently/internally. Last edited by DiapDealer; 05-14-2017 at 07:03 AM.

05-14-2017, 03:24 PM	#6
DanThompson Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2017 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Wait, I think I see what you're saying. Once I removed & from the preserve entities, then & was fine in the text, not being altered by save/load/etc. Last edited by DanThompson; 05-14-2017 at 03:25 PM. Reason: typo

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05-13-2017, 11:25 PM	#3
DanThompson Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2017 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	I am using & in the code view, which is what the Omega tool gives me. However, when the "mend HTML" option is checked during save or open, it's expanding it into nonsense like: Code: &#38;amp; And after the next save, it becomes: Code: &#38;amp;#38;amp; And so on. I did find the workaround by turning off the HTML mending option on save/open, but this makes me think there's a bug in that code. None of the other special characters like — were altered.

05-14-2017, 04:16 PM	#7
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,338 Karma: 203719142 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	Yes. Adding any of the ampersand or < or > entities to the Preserve Entities list is going to cause problems. I'll look into getting those specific ones ignored if they happen to get added to the Preserve Entities list.

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