SID-02171: Replacing the HTML::Entities Perl module

Status:	Answered	TWiki version:	6.0.2	Perl version:	5.18.2
Category:	CategoryError	Server OS:	Ubuntu 14.04 LTS	Last update:	9 years ago

I've been attempting to get TWiki working on Ubuntu 14 LTS. After installation, clicking red ! WikiWord links gives an error

TWiki detected an internal error - please check your TWiki logs and webserver logs for more information.
Can't locate HTMLpath in @INC (you may need to install the HTML::Entities module) (@INC contains: path . path path path path path path path path path path-linux-gnu-thread-multi path path)

In fact, I didn't have the HTML::Entities module installed by default. Looking into it, though, it appears that HTML::Entities is no longer maintained in the Ubuntu repositories. Instead, its functions seem to be replaced by the combination of HTML::HTML5::Entities and HTML::Entities::Numbered.

I installed both of these modules:

$ apt-get install libhtml-html5-entities-perl

$ apt-get install libhtml-entities-numbered-perl

and restarted Apache. I continue to receive the exact same error when clicking red ! WikiWords.

HTML::HTML5::Entities is billed as a "drop-in" replacement for HTML::Entities, which implies that its functions ought to satisfy whatever TWiki needs from HTML::Entities. So it seems that I need either to tell TWiki to look for HTML::HTML5::Entities instead of HTML::Entities, or install the proper HTML::Entities module, which does not exist in the Ubuntu repository.

Internet searches have not helped me figure out how to do either of these things. Any advice is appreciated!

-- TWiki Guest - 2016-03-14

Discussion and Answer

The Perl module HTML::Entities is (and has always been) part of the CPAN package HTML::Parser, or libhtml-parser-perl in Ubuntu. Install that and you'll be fine!

I just noticed that HTML::Parser is not (yet) listed as a prerequisite of TWiki. The dependency came in with the WYSIWYG editor (WysiwygPlugin) - which is now the default editor for TWiki, so I think that the configure script should help detecting this situation, and the TWikiInstallationGuide should make it clear how to obtain HTML::Entities. I'll file a bug report for that.

Sorry for the confusion - and thanks for the hint!

-- Harald Jörg - 2016-03-14

That worked! Thanks for your help!

-- TWiki Guest - 2016-03-14

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