How to replace < with < in ColdFusion - regex

Question

I'm creating an XML document from database entries using ColdFusion and when the XML is created the < and > are in the format of < and >. So before it creates the XML is there a way to change the < to a <?
Below is the code and an example of the output:
<cfquery name="messages" datasource="showcase_Uk">
select * from t_items where pid = 2 and spid = 45
</cfquery>
<cfset myStruct = StructNew() />
<cfset mystruct.link = "http://showcase.com" />
<cfset myStruct.title = "Examples" />
<cfset mystruct.description = "Examples from UK Showcase" />
<cfset mystruct.pubDate = Now() />
<cfset mystruct.version = "rss_2.0" />
<cfset myStruct.item = ArrayNew(1) />
<cfloop query="messages">
<cfset myStruct.item[currentRow] = StructNew()>
<cfset myStruct.item[currentRow].guid = structNew()>
<cfset myStruct.item[currentRow].guid.isPermaLink="YES">
<cfset myStruct.item[currentRow].guid.value = xmlFormat(#messages.id#)>
<cfset myStruct.item[currentRow].pubDate = createDate(year(#messages.uploadDate#), month(#messages.uploadDate#), day(#messages.uploadDate#))>
<cfset myStruct.item[currentRow].title = xmlFormat(#messages.name#)>
<cfset myStruct.item[currentRow].description = StructNew() />
<cfset myStruct.item[currentRow].description.value = xmlFormat(#messages.description#)>
</cfloop>
<cffeed action="create" name="#myStruct#" overwrite="true" xmlVar="myXML">
<cffile action="write" file="e:\domains\showcase.com\wwwroot\ukshowcasefeed.xml" nameconflict="overwrite" output="#XMLFormat(myXML)#">
<cffile action="read" file="e:\domains\showcase.com\wwwroot\ukshowcasefeed.xml" variable="myfile">
<cfoutput>#myfile#</cfoutput>
Then here is a screenshot of the code it produces:
I've tried ReplaceNoCase and that doesn't change it at all. I believe it maybe something to do with Regex but I don't really know.

Answer 1

Simple answer:
Don't XmlFormat() when you write the file, that's what causes the double encoding you see.
Longer answer:
I recommend you use mapping to create your feed:
<cfquery name="messages" datasource="showcase_Uk">
select
id, uploadDate, name, description, 'yes' as isPermaLink
from
t_items
where
pid = 2 and spid = 45
</cfquery>
<cfset feedMeta = {
version: "rss_2.0",
title: "Examples",
link: "http://showcase.com",
publisheddate: Now(),
description: "Examples from UK Showcase"
}>
<cfset feedMap = {
title: "name",
content: "description",
publisheddate: "uploadDate",
id: "id",
idpermalink: "isPermaLink"
}>
<cffeed
action="create"
properties="#feedMeta#" columnMap="#feedMap#" query="#messages#"
xmlvar="feedXml"
>
<cffile
action="write"
file="#ExpandPath('/ukshowcasefeed.xml')#" nameconflict="overwrite" charset="utf-8"
output="#feedXml#"
>
Note the easy declarative approach to feed creation. No loops, no manual struct creation, only data-driven mapping of input to output.
Also note the charset="utf-8" on the <cffile>, that's essential if you don't want to run into encoding problems.
If you modify your query so that it has the correct column names right-away, then you don't even need the feedMap structure:
<cfquery name="messages" datasource="showcase_Uk">
select
id,
'yes' as idpermalink
uploadDate as publisheddate,
name as title,
description as content
from
t_items
where
pid = 2 and spid = 45
</cfquery>
<cffeed
action="create"
properties="#feedMeta#" query="#messages#"
xmlvar="feedXml"
>