CDATA Section [binary data in...]

Ken Gentle j.kenneth.gentle at acm.org
Wed Oct 27 20:01:09 BST 1999


At 11:33 AM 10/27/99 -0600, you wrote:
>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.

Can't happen in base64 -- neither "]" nor ">" are legal characters.

This is precisely how our application is embedding "binary" data in XML
documents:  Base64 transfer encoding in a CDATA section.

	Ken

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