java - DocumentBuilder parsing breaks string when hits '&'

Question

i have this xml:
<user>
<name>H &amp; M</name>

and i parse it using this code:

    DocumentBuilder documentBuilder = null;
            Document document = null;

        try {
            documentBuilder = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance()
            .newDocumentBuilder();
            document = documentBuilder.parse(is);

        } catch (Exception e) {
            return result;
        }

        NodeList nl = document.getElementsByTagName(XML_RESPONSE_ROOT);
        if (nl.getLength() > 0) {
            resp_code = nl.item(0).getAttributes().getNamedItem(
                    XML_RESPONSE_STATUS).getNodeValue();

            if (resp_code.equals(RESP_CODE_OK_SINGLE)) {
                nl = document
                .getElementsByTagName(XML_RESPONSE_TAG_CONTACT);
                NodeList values = nl.item(i).getChildNodes();

etc..

when i get the node value by: node.getNodeValue();

i get only what's before the ampersand, even though the ampersand is escaped

i want to get the whole string: "H & M"

thanks

Answer 1

It depends on how your XML document was constructed. In particular, it can have multiple adjucent Text nodes in "H & M" while your code expects it to be just one. Try to use nodeVariable.normalize() before getting its value.

According to DOM parser API: "normalize() - Puts all Text nodes in the full depth of the sub-tree underneath this Node, including attribute nodes, into a "normal" form where only structure (e.g., elements, comments, processing instructions, CDATA sections, and entity references) separates Text nodes, i.e., there are neither adjacent Text nodes nor empty Text nodes..."