How do I include &, <, > etc in XML attribute values

Question

I want to create an XML file which will be used to store the structure of a Java program. I am able to successfully parse the Java program and create the tags as required. T

Answer 1

You will have to escape

" to  "
' to  '
< to  &lt;
> to  &gt;
& to  &amp;

for xml.

Answer 2

In XML attributes you must escape

" with "
< with &lt;
& with &amp;

if you wrap attribute values in double quotes ("), e.g.

<MyTag attr="If a&lt;b &amp; b&lt;c then a&lt;c, it's obvious"/>

meaning tag MyTag with attribute attr with text If a<b & b<c then a<c, it's obvious - note: no need to use ' to escape ' character.

If you wrap attribute values in single quotes (') then you should escape these characters:

' with '
< with &lt;
& with &amp;

and you can write " as is. Escaping of > with > in attribute text is not required, e.g. <a b=">"/> is well-formed XML.