RE: Reparsing Embedded XML

[ LeVan,Ralph]

> I've got XML that has more XML embedded as strings.
>  <doc>
>    <field>&lt;anotherField&gt;data&lt;/anotherField&gt;</field>
>    </doc>
> 
> I need to be able to format the stuff inside the field.  It's 
> good XML.  

Here's the thing, Ralph.  The stuff inside the field is NOT good xml, it
is only a string that __looks__ like xml when it is displayed.  Perhaps
it once was xml, but no longer.

> The
> document() function looks close, but it wants a URI, not a string.
> 
> Is there some way for me to run a transform on that string?

Your best bet would be to pre-process the file (using something else
besides xslt, like sed, python, etc.) to turn the string back into real
xml, then run your transform on it.  You just have to make sure that
your chosen method does not inadvertently change the character encoding.

Your next best bet would be to have one stylesheet emit that string with
real angle brackets, but that is trickier and more prone to problems
(search the archives for disable-output-escaping).  Then you could run a
second transform to get the results you want.

Go with preprocessing.

Cheers,

Tom P

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