Cannot parse XML with nested CDATA section

Question

I am having a problem while parsing XML with nested CDATA section. The CDATA section is as below:

<![CDATA[*** some text

[ !  <![CDATA[some text]]>  ! ]

<![CDATA[some text]]>

]]>

When this type of data is appearing in an XML tag, it is giving an error while parsing the XML as there are two closing tags ]]>. Can anyone please suggest me what to do or what character should I escape to make this work? I am using Java1.8.

How are you parsing the XML? SAX, StAX, DOM, something else? Can you show us a minimal programm that generates this error? — Ralf Renz
– Ralf Renz, Commented Aug 10, 2018 at 8:00
Actually, some other application is parsing the XML and it is Oracle ESB. But even when I paste this in Notepad and try to beautify XML, it is showing that it is not a valid XML. It is working when I remove one ]]> end tag. — Anirban
– Anirban, Commented Aug 10, 2018 at 8:04

Michael Kay · Accepted Answer · 2018-08-10 20:47:55Z

1

The reason you are having trouble parsing this input is that it isn't XML. You need to find out what program is generating this non-XML and fix it.

If you are generating XML, then whenever you create a text node that might contain the sequence ]]> (whether or not this represents the end of a nested CDATA section) you need to escape it somehow. Many people take the path of least resistance and simply escape > as > wherever it occurs, but technically this is needed only if the > is preceded by ]].

edited Aug 10, 2018 at 20:47

answered Aug 10, 2018 at 17:18

Michael Kay

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