Skip to main content
ExLibris
Alma
Ex Libris Knowledge Center

SIS loader gives: The reference to entity "M" must end with the ';' delimiter.

  1. Last updated
  2. Save as PDF
  • Product: Alma

 

 

Question

SIS Patron Loader fails with: "The reference to entity "M" must end with the ';' delimiter.", or with: "The reference to entity 'dawn' must end with the ';' delimiter."

Answer

Based on our experience, the XML input file has a special character. It needs to be escaped. 

Solution documented at: https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com...cial-Character

In one case, the error was very elusive. The error came back to an unencoded (literal) ampersand in an email address (this is not a true email):

<email_address>peteraul&mary@email.com</email_address>

 The Alma library who found this issue adds more information -- the file loaded correctly after manually converting the literal '&' to its XML character entity reference, &amp;

 

 

Additional Information

To find the "offensive" character, often this helps

1. Find and unzip the input file

2. Open the XML input file with an XML reader such as XML Notepad, it will detect the problematic character

3. Now that you have the line number, open the file with NotePad++, go to that row and fix it.

In another case, it was needed to break down the files, until the finding about the & in the email, a true letter but which "broke" the SIS loader.

 

 

  • Article last edited: 11-NOV-2020