XML with escaped data

[fianna]

I have an XML file that I need to transform. For one reason for another the XML contains escaped HTML data in its fields (the users are using an app I can't edit to generate the XML).

<parent>
  <child>%3Cul%3E%3Cli%3EBoy+this+is+fun%21%3C%2Fli%3E%3C%2Ful%3E</child>
</parent>

I know the best solution is to recreate the xml file with proper data, but as i stated that isn't an option currently. Is there a reasonably easy way to unescape this data for html output using an XSLT?

[iceandrews]

The short answer is no, there is no way to unescape the data easily. The long is answer is a little bit more hopeful. There might be a way to do what you're asking but it requires a pretty complicated XSLT. Are you using XSLT 1.0 or 2.0 ? I assume since this is web oriented it'll be 1.0

If it is 1.0, this becomes a very difficult task. In 2.0 it becomes a little easier.

[fianna]

I am using 1.0 and this is my first time playing with xml its making my brain bleed a little bit. I've come across this function on another page:

function encodeDecodeResult(isChecked) {            
var html = jQuery("#result").html();            
if (isChecked) {                
jQuery("#result").html(                    
html.replace(/&/g, '&amp;').replace(/</g, '&lt;').replace(/>/g, '&gt;').replace(/\n/g,"<br/>").replace(/\r/g,""));            
} else {            
jQuery("#result").html(                    
html.replace(/<BR>/g, "\n").replace(/&amp;/g, '&').replace(/&lt;/g, '<');

Which I think is doing what I want replacing the content of a div. I have have to figure out how to implement something like that. If I'm headed in the right (or wrong) direction please let me know.

[fianna]

After a little digging I managed to implement this plug-in - works like a charm!
http://www.prodevtips.com/2008/10/21/jquery-plugin-html-decode-and-encode/

[iceandrews]

Yes that's certainly the only direction you might be able to take. I tried to figure out an XSLT way to do this but it's much easier done in a script like that. Well done.