CFLib.org – Common Function Library Project

Description:
XMLFormat escapes special XML characters so that you can put arbitrary strings safely into XML. However, it does not filter non-printable characters which can cause some XML Parser Engines to crash.

Return Values:
Returns a string.

Example:

<!--- Build the string inserting a non-printable
      character.  CHR(146) will typically show
      up as an apostrophe in most editors and
      data-dump programs --->

<cfset myvar = "Joe" & Chr(146) & "s Cafe'">

<!--- Output the string to view --->
Value before the function: <cfoutput>#myvar#</cfoutput><br>

<!--- Now view the output with the function --->
Value after the function: <cfoutput>#XMLSafe(myvar)#</cfoutput>

Parameters:

Full UDF Source:

/**
 * Extends XMLFormat to include stripping non-printable characters.
 * 
 * @param str      The string to format. (Required)
 * @return Returns a string. 
 * @author Mark Knox (mark@3pss.com) 
 * @version 1, June 27, 2002 
 */
function XMLSafe(str) {
  return XMLFormat(REReplace(str, "[^[:print:]]", "", "ALL"));
}