Converting to External Entity

You can convert any part of document content to a reference to a newly-declared external entity.

Do the following:

  1. Select content for the external entity.

    Select what to convert to an external entity in the Editing Window or in the ContentMap.

    Figure 1. Content selected in the Editing Window.



  2. Call up the Convert to External Entity Dialog.

    To call up the Convert to External Entity Dialog, do one of the following:

    • Choose Entity > Convert to External Entity .

    • Right-click the selection and select Convert to External Entity from the context menu.

    The Convert to External Entity Dialog will appear.

    Figure 2. Convert to External Entity Dialog.



  3. Specify the name of the entity.

    In the Entity Name field, enter the name of the new external entity.

  4. Specify the filename.

    In the File Name field, enter the filename to save the entity to. You can use the Browse button to specify the file location.

  5. Convert the selection to the external entity.

    To convert the selection to the external entity, click OK.

    Figure 3. Entity name and filename specified. Click OK.



    Note:

    If an entity with the same name already exists, the error message will appear. Click OK and specify another entity name.



    The external entity will be declared in the document and the external entity reference will be inserted.

    Figure 4. Content converted to an external entity.



  6. Save the external entity.

    To save the external entity to the file, save the document.

    You can insert more references to the saved external entity. You can also convert the document portion back from the external entity into a regular content, change the external entity declaration or remove the external entity declaration.

Related concepts
Inserting External Entity
Related tasks
Converting from External Entity