gsoap - Avoid escaping < and > to &lt and &gt

I am using gsoap to access a web service. I generate the code with wsdl2h and soapcpp2 in the following way:

wsdl2h -o BILBO.h http://www.bilbao.eus/WebServicesBilbao/services/ws_bilbaoSOAP?wsdl
soapcpp2 -j -r -CL -1 BILBO.h

And accessing the service in the following way:

#include "soapws_USCOREbilbaoSOAPSoapBindingProxy.h"
#include "ws_USCOREbilbaoSOAPSoapBinding.nsmap"

int main()
{
    ws_USCOREbilbaoSOAPSoapBindingProxy service;
    char str_buf[128];

    const char *servicio = "BUSLISPARO";
    const char *usuario = "BILBOBUS";

    int cod_linea = 30;
    sprintf(str_buf, "<![CDATA[<PETICION><CODIGOLINEA>%d</CODIGOLINEA></PETICION>]]>", cod_linea);
    std::string parametros(str_buf);

    _ns1__wsBilbao param_req;
    param_req.servicio = (char *)servicio;
    param_req.usuario = (char *)usuario;
    param_req.parametros.push_back(parametros);

    if (service.send_wsBilbao(NULL, NULL, &param_req) != SOAP_OK)
    {
        service.soap_sprint_fault(str_buf, sizeof(str_buf));
        service.destroy(); // delete data and release memory
        printf("err: %s\n", str_buf);
        return -1;
    }

    _ns1__wsBilbaoResponse param_resp;
    if (service.recv_wsBilbao(param_resp) != SOAP_OK)
    {
        service.soap_sprint_fault(str_buf, sizeof(str_buf));
        service.destroy(); // delete data and release memory
        printf("err: %s\n", str_buf);
        return -1;
    }

    for (int i = 0; i < param_resp.valores.size(); i++)
    {
        printf("[%d] \"%s\"\n", i, param_resp.valores[i].c_str());
    }

    service.destroy(); // delete data and release memory
}

My problem is that when I run the code I get the following output:

[0] ""

I expect to get some data. When I preform the same request with Soap UI I do get it.

Comparing the differences between the Soap UI requests and the gsoap requests I notice gsoap is escaping < and > characters. In the following way:

&lt;![CDATA[&lt;PETICION&gt;&lt;CODIGOLINEA&gt;30&lt;/CODIGOLINEA&gt;&lt;/PETICION&gt;]]&gt;

Is there a way to tell gsoap no to escape < to &lt and > to &gt?

Solution

To send and receive plain XML you can use the _XML built-in type that is a char* string serialized "as-is", i.e. without translation. Then use the _XML type at places where you used char* in the header file for soapcpp2.

In C++ you can define typedef std::string XML; in the header file for soapcpp2 to define an XML type that is serialized "as-is".

I don not fully understand why you are creating a string with <![CDATA[.... You do not have to use CDATA when you are serializing strings, since gsoap serializes strings in valid XML.