Safe for XML files

I've been working more and more with creating and parsing XML files with ExtendScript. Came across a problem when trying to write a string that was enclosed in < and >

ExtendScript complained when asked to convert the file's contents to an XML reference that there was a missing tag. And it was correct, at least for its way of thinking.

So below is the quick little function to parse a string to convert the 4 reserved characters into their entity references necessary to write them.

Note, publishing this requires that a bunch of things get further escaped to post. I've got no idea how it will copy back out.

function entityReference ( str ) {

//-------------------------------------------------------------------------

//-- E N T I T Y R E F E R E N C E

//-------------------------------------------------------------------------

//-- Generic: Yes. Works for ExtendScript and likely for all ECMAScript

//-- and even JavaScript providing the Regular Expression converts.

//-------------------------------------------------------------------------

//-- Purpose: To replace the XML Reserved Characters in a passed string

//-- with their Entity References

//-------------------------------------------------------------------------

//-- Arguments: A string to clean up.

//-------------------------------------------------------------------------

//-- Calls: Nothing.

//-------------------------------------------------------------------------

//-- Returns: The string with the reserved characters replaced with their

//-- entitity references

//-------------------------------------------------------------------------

//-- Sample Use:

//~ var unfitForXML = '< open & ampersand > close % percent'

//~ var safeForXML = entityReference ( unfitForXML ) ;

//-------------------------------------------------------------------------

//-- Notes:

//-- 1) You can add any other cleanups you need for your particular XML

//-- 2) Be wary of using something to excape the entity references

//-- prior to sending to this function as you will escape all the

//-- ampersands have have areal mess in the XML.

//-------------------------------------------------------------------------

//-- Written: 2009.10.04 by Jon S. Winters of electronic publishing support

//-- eps@electronicpublishingsupport.com

//-------------------------------------------------------------------------

//-- replacing each individually to make it more portable and easier to read

str = str.replace ( new RegExp ('&' , 'gm' ) , '&amp;' ) ;

str = str.replace ( new RegExp ('>' , 'gm' ) , '&gt;' ) ;

str = str.replace ( new RegExp ('<' , 'gm' ) , '&lt;' ) ;

str = str.replace ( new RegExp ('%' , 'gm' ) , '&#37;' ) ;

//-- return to caller

return str ;

}

//