title: how to escape '&' in maven pom property values
body: <p>I need to set a URL via a maven property (to be replaced per profile). The problem is that this URL contains some <code>&amp;</code> and maven doesn't like this (if URL contains &amp;_program):</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>"The reference to entity "_program" must end with the ';' delimiter." error occurs in pom on this line.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>So how to escape this character or how to escape a hole line that might contain some "special" characters. (What other characters are forbidden in property-values?)</p>