Error: character "<" is the first character of a delimiter but occurred as data

**bumpyride** · Jun 21, 2008 13:27

I have tried to validate my page http://jimpix.co.uk/

But get this error 5 times:
character "<" is the first character of a delimiter but occurred as data

But I need the "<" in place in some javascript on the page:

Code:

function prev_my_photo() {
	MyPhotoThingVar--;

	if (MyPhotoThingVar <= 0) {
		MyPhotoThingVar = 0
	}

	return MyPhotoThingVar;
}

I need to have the javascript on the same page, and not as an include, because the ASP code includes the values it is checking against, so I can't include the javascript, otherwise it won't work.

Is this something I'll have to live with? I can't replace the "<" with an "<" because then the javascript breaks.

Thanks

Jim

**fredda** · Jun 21, 2008 13:41

Wrap your javascript like this to make it compatible with xhtml:

Code:

<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[

// rest of your javascript goes here

//]]>
</script>

**bumpyride** · Jun 21, 2008 13:51

Thanks fredda! That worked a treat.

**AutisticCuckoo** · Jun 21, 2008 21:36

Originally Posted by bumpyride

Is this something I'll have to live with? I can't replace the "<" with an "<" because then the javascript breaks.

Not if you serve your XHTML markup as XHTML. If you're using pretend-XHTML you really should keep all JavaScript in external files, since the content type of the script element differs between HTML4 and XHTML1.

**Breowulf** · Jun 1, 2009 12:57

How would you get the following code to validate as xhtml 1.0 strict then?

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" title="User Defined Style" href="<?php echo (!$_COOKIE["sitestyle"])?'default':$_COOKIE["sitestyle"]?>.css" />

**fredda** · Jun 1, 2009 13:29

Remove the title attribute and it should validate fine.

Code:

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="<?php echo (!$_COOKIE["sitestyle"])?'default':$_COOKIE["sitestyle"]?>.css" />

**Breowulf** · Jun 1, 2009 13:42

Hello Fredda

thank you for replying. Unfortunately, it does not solve the problem. It has something to do with '<' and '>'. as in the javascript problem above.

**fredda** · Jun 1, 2009 13:54

What error message to you get when you validate?

**fredda** · Jun 1, 2009 13:58

Also how does your XHTML code look when you do view source in your browser?

**Breowulf** · Jun 1, 2009 22:36

I get the same error message as the original enquirer had - although his related to JavaScript and not php:

character "<" is the first character of a delimiter but occurred as data