I'm coding a RSS reader in Javascript using XMLHttpRequest.

For some RSS Feeds I had no problems but in some cases the xmlDocument.firstChild attribute was always NULL

After trying to see the differences between the XML that worked and the ones that didn't worked I found that the following is the cause of the error.

<item>
    <description>
        <![CDATA[This is a description for a test [...]]]>
    </description>
</item>

Because that in this description tag I have a closing bracket followed by the closing brackets of the CDATA is causing my error, I've made a code with C# using LINQ for the same XML and everything worked.

The closing bracket that is just before the closing brackets of CDATA is causing this strange behaviour. As a test I've tried to read the same XML using C# and LINQ, everything worked okay.

Then I tried to add a space between the closing brackets, like the following

<![CDATA[This is a description for a test [...] ]]>

And it worked!

my javascript code

function LoadRSS() {
    http_request.onreadystatechange = function () { showContent(http_request); };
    http_request.open("GET", "./feeds/test.xml", true);
    http_request.send(false);
}


function showContent(http_request) {
    if (http_request.readyState == 4) {
        if (http_request.status == 200) {
            var parser = new DOMParser();
            var xml_doc = parser.parseFromString(http_request.responseText, "text/xml");
            alert(xml_doc.firstChild)
        }
        else {
            xml_doc = null;
        }
    }
}

Does anyone have faced something similar? Now I really don't know how to proceed any ments and suggestions are weled.

I'm coding a RSS reader in Javascript using XMLHttpRequest.

For some RSS Feeds I had no problems but in some cases the xmlDocument.firstChild attribute was always NULL

After trying to see the differences between the XML that worked and the ones that didn't worked I found that the following is the cause of the error.

<item>
    <description>
        <![CDATA[This is a description for a test [...]]]>
    </description>
</item>

Because that in this description tag I have a closing bracket followed by the closing brackets of the CDATA is causing my error, I've made a code with C# using LINQ for the same XML and everything worked.

The closing bracket that is just before the closing brackets of CDATA is causing this strange behaviour. As a test I've tried to read the same XML using C# and LINQ, everything worked okay.

Then I tried to add a space between the closing brackets, like the following

<![CDATA[This is a description for a test [...] ]]>

And it worked!

my javascript code

function LoadRSS() {
    http_request.onreadystatechange = function () { showContent(http_request); };
    http_request.open("GET", "./feeds/test.xml", true);
    http_request.send(false);
}


function showContent(http_request) {
    if (http_request.readyState == 4) {
        if (http_request.status == 200) {
            var parser = new DOMParser();
            var xml_doc = parser.parseFromString(http_request.responseText, "text/xml");
            alert(xml_doc.firstChild)
        }
        else {
            xml_doc = null;
        }
    }
}

Does anyone have faced something similar? Now I really don't know how to proceed any ments and suggestions are weled.

• javascript
• xml
• cdata

Share Improve this question Follow edited Jan 11, 2011 at 17:38 Phrogz 304k113113 gold badges667667 silver badges757757 bronze badges asked Jan 11, 2011 at 17:29 YasuDevilYasuDevil 48055 silver badges1616 bronze badges 3

• 1 This appears to be a bug in the XML parser. What OS/browser/version are you using? – Phrogz Commented Jan 11, 2011 at 17:37
• The browser is called OBIGO, it's a browser for cellphones – YasuDevil Commented Jan 11, 2011 at 17:40
• 1 Yep, broken browser. CDATA section can contain ']]' binations; only full ']]>' ends it. – StaxMan Commented Jan 11, 2011 at 17:52

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2 Answers 2

Sorted by: Reset to default 5

Whatever browser you're using seems to be parsing CDATA sections incorrectly -- only ]]> marks the end of the section, any other square brackets should not affect this at all.

As for "how to proceed"...why not just include a space before the end of the CDATA block always? Do you not have control over the generated XML? If so, you could use JS to:

var xml = http_request.responseText.replace( /\]\]>/g, ' ]]>' );
var xml_doc = parser.parseFromString(xml, "text/xml");