problem with xml as input to stored procedure

I am facing a problem while i pass xml as an intput to stored procedure.
The problem is that there are ceratin special characters which when used as a part of xml give error.Like the input which i give to my sp is :

Declare @.XMLString XML
Set @.XMLString = N'<Company CompanyName = "Hilary Group & Sons" Code = "HGS" >
</Company>'
Exec sproc_Insert_Company @.XMLString

The error which i get on execution is: Msg 9421, Level 16, State 1, Line 2
XML parsing: line 2, character 34, illegal name character..

Its being generated because of the '&' being used in CompanyName.

In my sp i m using it as : .

Insert Into Company(

CompanyName,

Code,

)

Output Inserted.CompanyId Into @.tbl

-- TurnOver,

-- NetIncome,

-- YrOfIncorporation,

SELECT

CompanyName = ParamValues.Item.value( '@.CompanyName' , 'varchar(101)'),

Code = ParamValues.Item.value( '@.Code' , 'varchar(6)'),

FROM @.XMLString.nodes('Company') AS ParamValues(Item)

Its not only this but there are other special characters which create problem like '@.' and many more...

How to resolve it?
plzz do help at the earliest...

The ampersand is a "special" character.

Here is an article about this and how to handle it: http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2001/01/31/qanda.html

|||

Thanx a lot Louis....

u saved me from a big problem and that too on time....

Thanx once again..today i understood the power of microsoft forums...its been really helpful to me..

|||

i dont know how to close a thread or mark it as answered..i dont find any tab which says that my post has been answered...

|||I done it for you.

|||Thanx