XML in SQL Server 2005

Question

All,

I am inserting as xml datatype in a table, an XSLT document. Somewhere in my XSLT document I am using the character

< 

for a reason. However when inserting to the table, the SQL Server replaces the

< 

with

<

Any ideas how to store it without having SQL Server to change it?

Thanks,

M

Answer 1

< is the character < and this is the same as <. XML is not a string. Two different representations can encode the same underlying XML and correctly written applications cannot distinguish between them. If your application relies on < to exists in the XML, it cannot be correct.