xml decoding issue in json org.json.JSONException: Missing ';' in XML entity

Question

I am writing a REST based webservice code, in which an xml is read as POST body content. <REQ>J*Wt!&Gs+aGphxR</REQ>

The data may contain alphanumeric or symbols.

I am using json-jena jar and converting the xml to java object and reading the values.

JSONObject jsonObject = XML.toJSONObject(body);

For the specific request above I am getting error as below org.json.JSONException: Missing ';' in XML entity: &gs at 40 [character 41 line 1]

Please let me know how can i convert to json object without error.

My requirement is to read the values between the REQ tag with the actual values specified by the users (not the encoded string).

my request will come properly with < and > converted to its equivalent. — user1332962
– user1332962, Commented Oct 9, 2012 at 1:03
@user1332962 - the issue here is not < and > but escaping the & on its own — mmmmmm
– mmmmmm, Commented Oct 9, 2012 at 8:22

mmmmmm · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-09 01:02:00Z

4

The issue is that the supplier is not sending XML. In XML an & starts a entity which must be ended with a ;

The correct XML for your example is either <REQ>J*Wt!&Gs+aGphxR</REQ> by replacing & by its entity reference & (XML also include < and > for < and >) or possibly enclose the data in a CDATA section <REQ><![CDATA[J*Wt!&Gs+aGphxR\]]></REQ>

edited Oct 9, 2012 at 1:02

answered Oct 9, 2012 at 0:55

mmmmmm

32.8k28 gold badges92 silver badges124 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

3 Comments

user1332962 Over a year ago

The &Gs in the value is not the > symbol. It is considering as > symbol and giving error telling ; is missing. I need solution to escape this error and continue the xml to json formatting.

Brett Zamir Over a year ago

Missing a bracket at beginning, middle, and end: <![CDATA[ ... ]]>

mmmmmm Over a year ago

@user1332962 - You can't escape the error as the input is not XML as the & needed to be followed by a ; to end the entity, so you need to escape the & on its own irrespective of wht the following letter is.

Brett Zamir · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-09 00:56:05Z

1

This appears to be complaining about XML well-formedness rather than any errors in making the conversion itself (though it is probably reading the XML as the first step toward conversion which is why you're seeing an error).

How are you producing the content in the first place? You should make sure that is itself well-formed. XML elements like your <REQ> cannot just have arbitrary text. The characters & and < must be escaped within element content (and ' or " may need to be escaped within attribute content). To avoid needing to escape & and < within element content, you could use CDATA sections, assuming your parsers support them, but bear in mind that the specific sequence ]]> will need to be escaped.

answered Oct 9, 2012 at 0:56

Brett Zamir

14.4k7 gold badges57 silver badges85 bronze badges

Comments

Cory Kendall · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-09 00:56:31Z

1

This isn't valid XML, because the & character is reserved. To get this to work, you will probably have to escape it like this &. Other symbols that are reserved are ", <, and >. You can escape these like this: ", <, and &gt.

answered Oct 9, 2012 at 0:56

Cory Kendall

7,3349 gold badges40 silver badges66 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

xml decoding issue in json org.json.JSONException: Missing ';' in XML entity

3 Answers 3

3 Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

3 Answers 3

3 Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related