Hi,I am using CF 8 with IIS.Following is my code.<cfscript>XMLpacket = XmlNew();XMLpacket.xmlRoot = XmlElemNew(XMLpacket, "test");XMLpacket.xmlRoot.XmlChildren[1] = XmlElemNew(XMLpacket, "spcial_name"); XMLpacket.xmlRoot.XmlChildren[1].XmlText = "this is a test for & and '');</cfscript>when retrieving value for spcial_name, it returns following string."this is a test for & and '"I understand why it converted & to &, but it also converts ' to 'Is this a bug or should I try something else?Please suggest.Nishant.

Is this a bug or should I try something else?It isn't a bug. There is no need to use & or ' in the right-hand side of the statementXMLpacket.xmlRoot.XmlChildren[1].XmlText = "this is a test for & and '";Character entity references like & or 'are meant to be used within an XML document. Whereas, the above statement is simply an assignment to a string variable, and so can be written asXMLpacket.xmlRoot.XmlChildren[1].XmlText = "this is a test for & and ' ";

N

ngpanchal

Participant

Question

Strange behaviour of & in XML

Forum|Forum|16 years ago
November 12, 2009
3 replies
1034 views

Hi,

I am using CF 8 with IIS.

Following is my code.

XMLpacket = XmlNew();

XMLpacket.xmlRoot = XmlElemNew(XMLpacket, "test");

XMLpacket.xmlRoot.XmlChildren[1] = XmlElemNew(XMLpacket, "spcial_name");

XMLpacket.xmlRoot.XmlChildren[1].XmlText = "this is a test for & and '');

</cfscript>

when retrieving value for spcial_name, it returns following string.

"this is a test for & and '"

I understand why it converted & to &, but it also converts ' to '

Is this a bug or should I try something else?

Please suggest.

Nishant.

This topic has been closed for replies.

BKBK

Community Expert

Is this a bug or should I try something else?

It isn't a bug. There is no need to use & or ' in the right-hand side of the statement

XMLpacket.xmlRoot.XmlChildren[1].XmlText = "this is a test for & and '";

Character entity references like & or 'are meant to be used within an XML document. Whereas, the above statement is simply an assignment to a string variable, and so can be written as

XMLpacket.xmlRoot.XmlChildren[1].XmlText = "this is a test for & and ' ";

N

ngpanchalAuthor

Participant

Hi,

But, when I use following statement, it automatically returns '.

XMLpacket.xmlRoot.XmlChildren[1].XmlText = XmlFormat("This is Nishant's test");

<cfoutput>#XMLpacket#</cfoutput>

The output is: This is Nishant's test

I need to use XmlFormat() to escape other special characters.

My problem is special character like Ó, and other characters like that. In case of Ó, it returns Ó, but displays correct Ó in HTML.

Where as in case of aprostophe('), it returns ' and displays ' instead of aprostophe.

I think, I need to use XmlCdata instead of XmlText.

Thank you.

Nishant

A

Adam Cameron.

Inspiring

Following is my code.
<cfscript>
XMLpacket = XmlNew();
XMLpacket.xmlRoot = XmlElemNew(XMLpacket, "test");
XMLpacket.xmlRoot.XmlChildren[1] = XmlElemNew(XMLpacket, "spcial_name");
XMLpacket.xmlRoot.XmlChildren[1].XmlText = "this is a test for & and '');
</cfscript>
when retrieving value for spcial_name, it returns following string.
"this is a test for & and '"

I see no reference to special_name in your code above.

However other than that, once I fix your syntax error, my results are exactly what I'd expect:

<cfoutput>#XMLpacket.xmlRoot.XmlChildren[1].XmlText#</cfoutput>

Outputs exactly the same value you put in;

<cfoutput>#toString(XMLpacket)#</cfoutput>

Demonstrates that under the hood, CF is escaping your ampersands when it puts then in the XML string. It needs to do this because ampersands are a "reserved character" in XML.

--

Adam

D

Daverms

Inspiring

Hi Nishanth,

XMLpacket.xmlRoot.XmlChildren[1].XmlText = "this is a test for & and '');

I think you have an invalid string here.

And when I tried something like this,

XMLpacket = XmlNew();

XMLpacket.xmlRoot = XmlElemNew(XMLpacket, "test");

XMLpacket.xmlRoot.XmlChildren[1] = XmlElemNew(XMLpacket, "spcial_name");

XMLpacket.xmlRoot.XmlChildren[1].XmlText = "this is a test for & and '";

WriteOutput ("#XMLpacket.xmlRoot.XmlChildren[1].XmlText#");
</cfscript>

I got this as output,

this is a test for & and '

N

ngpanchalAuthor

Participant

Hi,

I am expecting following output.

this is a test for & and '

Nishant.

BKBK

Community Expert

You need to escape with character entities when you're dealing with an XML document, for example, like this:

<cfset testString = "this is a test for & and '">
<cfxml variable="myDoc">
<XMLpacket>
<test>
<special_name><cfoutput>#xmlformat(testString)#</cfoutput></special_name>
</test>
</XMLpacket>
</cfxml>

However, in the following example, calling xmlFormat is unnecessary. Coldfusion implicitly escapes the characters.

<cfscript>
XMLpacket = XmlNew();
XMLpacket.xmlRoot = XmlElemNew(XMLpacket, "test");
XMLpacket.xmlRoot.XmlChildren[1] = XmlElemNew(XMLpacket, "special_name");
XMLpacket.xmlRoot.XmlChildren[1].XmlText = "this is a test for & and '";
</cfscript>

isXML(toString(XMLpacket)): <cfoutput>#isXML(toString(XMLpacket))#</cfoutput>

XMLpacket.xmlRoot.XmlChildren[1].XmlText: <cfoutput>#XMLpacket.xmlRoot.XmlChildren[1].XmlText#</cfoutput>

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded