There recently has been a lot of questions and issues around html encoding as it relates to Datafeed and Data Import. I wanted to review this topic so it might alleviate some current problems and concerns. There was a video and a tip sheet done about a year ago on this subject shown below. The main point discussed in these materials is:
“In a Datafeed or Import source file, HTML / Xml characters that are not intended to identify html formatting must be encoded.”
The video and tip sheet go into detail about why it is a problem and how to deal with it. There was a change in Service Pack 5.5.3 to Datafeed and Data Import to control how encoding is applied across incoming data. The new feature was called “HTML Formatting” option. When it is selected that a file “Does not contain html formatting” then the incoming data is encoded as it is brought in. If “Does contain html formatting” is selected, then no encoding is done as data is brought in. If you want to control encoding on an individual field bases, you can use a calculated field with a formula call HtmlEncode([fieldname]) to accomplish it.
Please watch the video and read the tip sheet for more detail.
Data Feed Training series - Encoding HTML / XML characters
https://community.rsa.com/videos/10896
Encoding in Data Feed Source File Tip Sheet.pdf
https://community.rsa.com/docs/DOC-17867
