## Syntax
```mermaid
%%{init: {
'theme': 'base',
'flowchart': { 'padding': '7', 'nodeSpacing': '20', 'rankSpacing': '20' },
'themeVariables': {
'fontSize': '11px',
'fontFamily': 'Arial'
}
}}%%
flowchart LR
Start((START)) --> XMLENCODE[XMLENCODE]:::quoted
XMLENCODE --> End((END))
```
## Purpose
The `XMLENCODE` SQL function returns the XML encoded input.
See also [[XMLCOMMENT]], [[XMLDECODE]], [[XMLELEMENT]], [[XMLFORMAT]] and [[XMLTRANSFORM]].
Parameters:
- Input (`varchar2`, `decimal` or `datetime`): the input which will be encoded into XML.
Returns: An object which is the XML encoded input.
## Examples
The following example encodes the text `John & CO`:
```sql
select xmlencode('John & CO')
-------------------
John & CO
```
The following example encodes the text `65/20<5%`:
```sql
select xmlencode('65/20<5%')
-------------------
65/20<5%
```