About XML to String

Convert XML to escaped string. Part of the DevTools Surf developer suite. Browse more tools in the Converters collection.

Use Cases

• Backend devs embedding XML payloads in JSON API responses
• Integration engineers storing SOAP messages in database text fields
• DevOps engineers passing XML configs as string parameters in scripts
• API developers embedding XML in multipart request bodies

Tips

• Verify that angle brackets are properly escaped in the output
• Check that XML declarations and processing instructions are included
• Ensure CDATA sections are handled correctly in the escaped string

Fun Facts

• XML escaping requires converting 5 special characters: <, >, &, ", and ' to their entity references.
• CDATA sections in XML were designed specifically to avoid escaping, wrapping raw text in <![CDATA[ and ]]>.
• XML strings can contain any Unicode character except the null character (U+0000), which is banned by the XML specification.

FAQ

What does this produce?

An escaped single-line string representation of the XML — suitable for embedding in JSON, YAML, or source code string literals.

How are newlines handled?

Converted to `\n` escape sequences. The resulting string is a single line that decodes back to the original multi-line XML.

What's the difference from URL encoding?

URL encoding uses `%XX` sequences; string escape uses backslash escapes (`\n`, `\t`, `\"`). Different contexts use different schemes.

Can I get raw escaped output without quotes?

Yes — toggle 'wrap in quotes' off. Useful when your target format adds its own quotes.