In the markup languages SGML and HTML, a character entity reference is a reference to a particular kind of named entity that has been predefined or explicitly declared in a Document Type Definition (DTD). The "replacement text" of the entity consists of a single character from the Universal Character Set/Unicode.
The purpose of a character entity reference is to provide a way to refer to a universal character in a limited character encoding, like ASCII.
Although in popular usage character references are often called "entity references" or even "entities", this usage is wrong. A character reference is a reference to a character, not to an entity. Entity reference refers to the content of a named entity. An entity declaration is created by using the syntax in a document type definition (DTD) or XML schema. Then, the name defined in the entity declaration is subsequently used in the XML. When used in the XML, it is called an entity reference.
Famous quotes containing the words character, entity and/or reference:
“Every two years the American politics industry fills the airwaves with the most virulent, scurrilous, wall-to-wall character assassination of nearly every political practitioner in the country—and then declares itself puzzled that America has lost trust in its politicians.”
—Charles Krauthammer (b. 1950)
“What is this world of ours? A complex entity subject to sudden changes which all indicate a tendency to destruction; a swift succession of beings which follow one another, assert themselves and disappear; a fleeting symmetry; a momentary order.”
—Denis Diderot (1713–1784)
“If Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favourable reference to the devil in the House of Commons.”
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965)