XML error at ampersand (&)

Question

I have a php file which prints an xml based on a MySql db.

I get an error every time at exactly the point where there is an & sign.

Here is some php:

$query = mysql_query($sql);

$_xmlrows = '';

while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($query)) {
    $_xmlrows .= xmlrowtemplate($row);
}

function xmlrowtemplate($dbrow){
    return "
              ".$dbrow['category']."
            
}

The output is what I want, i.e. the file outputs the correct category, but still gives an error.

The error says: xmlParseEntityRef: no name

And then it points to the exact character which is a & sign.

This complains only if the $dbrow['category'] is something with an & sign in it, for example: "cars & trucks", or "computers & telephones".

Anybody know what the problem is?

BTW: I have the encoding set to UTF-8 in all documents, as well as the xml output.

user_1564946 · Answer

$string =htmlspecialchars($string,ENT_XML1);

is the most universal way to solve all encoding errors (IMHO better that write custom functions + there is no point to solve just &).

Credit: Put Wrikken's and joshweir's comment as answer to be more visible.

user_4549550 · Answer

Switch and regex with using xml escape function.

 function XmlEscape(str) {
    if (!str || str.constructor !== String) {
        return "";
    }

    return str.replace(/[\"&><]/g, function (match) {
        switch (match) {
        case "\"":
            return """;
        case "&":
            return "&";
        case "<":
            return "<";
        case ">":
            return ">";
        }
    });
};

XML error at ampersand (&)

5 Answers