ruby string for xml

gistfile1.txt

In Ruby 1.9.2 to escape XML special characters in Strings, use the 'encode' method.

Example, if you have:

my_string = 'this is "my" complicated <String>'
For XML attributes use:

"<node attr=#{my_string.encode(:xml => :attr)} />"
Generates:

<node attr="this is &quot;my&quot; complicated &lt;String&gt;" />
For XML text use:

"<node>#{my_string.encode(:xml => :text)}</node>"
Generates:

<node>this is "my" complicated &lt;String&gt;</node>

source: http://stackoverflow.com/a/7573833/377593