question: private static String escapeXML ( String s ) { if ( s == null ) { return null ; } final int length = s . length ( ) ; StringBuffer b = new StringBuffer ( ) ; for ( int i = 0 ; i < length ; i ++ ) { char c = s . charAt ( i ) ; switch ( c ) { case '&' : b . append ( "&amp;" ) ; break ; case '<' : b . append ( "&lt;" ) ; break ; case '>' : b . append ( "&gt;" ) ; break ; default : b . append ( c ) ; break ; } } return b . toString ( ) ; }
target:  a very very basic xml escaper.