CDATA Section [binary data in...]

Nik O niko at cmsplatform.com
Wed Oct 27 19:34:36 BST 1999


Remember the XML 1.0 definition: CDATA sections are "used to escape blocks
of text containing characters which would otherwise be recognized as
markup".  Nothing about this implies including XML-illegal characters.

Re Tim Bray's "CDATA Sections and Binary Data" note:
    http://www.xml.com/axml/notes/CDprob.html
I've never read this to state that you can put _raw_ binary data in a CDATA
section.  The phrase "When you look at CDATA, you might get the impression
that you could maybe jam your binary data in a CDATA section. You'd be
right, but..." may be a little misleading, but do remember that these are
just explanatory notes that can never be taken to contradict the XML 1.0
spec itself!

Yes, base64 is a good method of cramming binary data into a CDATA section,
just be certain that a "]]" can't appear in the encoded data.

Regards,
 Nik O, Teton Data Systems, Jackson, Wyo.



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