How can I escape double quotes in XML attributes values?

Question

From the following trials

<tag attr="\"">
<tag attr="<![CDATA["]]>">
<tag attr='"'>

Only the last one works for an XML parser that I'm using here. Is there an alternative?

**`"`** is the answer; [**here's the explanation**](https://stackoverflow.com/a/47534887/290085). — kjhughes, May 13 '18 at 18:31
Possible duplicate: *[What characters do I need to escape in XML documents?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1091945/what-characters-do-i-need-to-escape-in-xml-documents)* — Peter Mortensen, May 20 '20 at 17:17

score 262 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 18 '10 at 17:11

262

You can use "

answered Oct 18 '10 at 17:11

Sachin Shanbhag

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score 55 · Answer 2 · edited May 20 '20 at 14:40

55

From the XML specification:

To allow attribute values to contain both single and double quotes, the apostrophe or single-quote character (') may be represented as "'", and the double-quote character (") as """.

edited May 20 '20 at 14:40

Peter Mortensen

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answered Oct 18 '10 at 17:12

Wim Coenen

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kjhughes · Answer 3 · 2017-11-28T15:57:36.897

A double quote character (") can be escaped as ", but here's the rest of the story...

Double quote character must be escaped in this context:

In XML attributes delimited by double quotes:

<EscapeNeeded name="Pete &quot;Maverick&quot; Mitchell"/>

Double quote character need not be escaped in most contexts:

In XML textual content:

<NoEscapeNeeded>He said, "Don't quote me."</NoEscapeNeeded>

In XML attributes delimited by single quotes ('):
```
<NoEscapeNeeded name='Pete "Maverick" Mitchell'/>
```
Similarly, (') require no escaping if (") are used for the attribute value delimiters:
```
<NoEscapeNeeded name="Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell"/>
```

How can I escape double quotes in XML attributes values?

4 Answers4

Double quote character must be escaped in this context:

Double quote character need not be escaped in most contexts:

See also

Linked

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