xml String with & inside

Question

I have got a simple question, I have a xml string with an url inside, which contains the "ls="

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
   <resources>
      <string name="passOnText">iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/xyz/id123456?l=de&ls=1&mt=8 \nAndroid: http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=x.y.z</string>
   </resources>

now the xml validator tells me that:

The reference to entity "ls" must end with the ';' delimiter.

how can I workaroud this problem?

thanks in advance

lukas

edited title from "xml String with ls= inside" to "xml String with & inside"

are you sure the problem is ls= and not & ? Can you replace & with & and see if it keeps to complain? — Blackbelt, Jul 18 '14 at 07:53
Possible duplicate of [The reference to entity "foo" must end with the ';' delimiter](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6483807/the-reference-to-entity-foo-must-end-with-the-delimiter) — BalusC, May 09 '16 at 12:24

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 18 '14 at 07:59

& is a special character in XML that starts an entity reference. The XML parser then goes looking for the terminating ; of the entity reference and doesn't find one.

To produce & itself, write & in the XML. (It's an entity reference, amp short for "ampersand".)

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 18 '14 at 08:02

0

If you want to give a link you should use a href in your string values.

Here is your working code:

<string name="passOnText">iOS: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/xyz/id123456?l=de&ls=1&mt=8"> Click Here for iOS </a></string>
<string name="passOnText2">Android: <a href="http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=x.y.z> Click Here for Android </a></string>

answered Jul 18 '14 at 08:02

Jaky71

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1
9

thank you really much for this additional information! I diden't know that this is possible! thank you – lukas Jul 18 '14 at 08:11
In XML, & needs to be escaped in attributes as well as in elements. So this does not solve the problem. – Michael Kay Jul 18 '14 at 11:00
I tried his code and correct it by this codes. This works and I said "If you want to give a link you should use a href in your string values." then share this code. I didnt claim that I solved "&" problem – Jaky71 Jul 18 '14 at 11:04

xml String with & inside

2 Answers2