The Code

Here are few common ways to escape text for URLs in various scripting languages.

JavaScript

var artist = "Kruder & Dorfmeister";
artist = escape(artist);

Perl

use URI::Escape;
my $artist = "Kruder & Dorfmeister";
$artist = uri_escape($artist);

VBScript

strArtist = "Kruder & Dorfmeister"
strArtist = Server.URLEncode(strArtist)

PHP

$artist = "Kruder & Dorfmeister";
$artist = urlencode(strArtist);

Python

Unlike the previous examples, Python's urlencode takes variable/value pairs and creates a properly escaped querystring:

import sys
from urllib import urlencode
artist = "Kruder & Dorfmeister"
artist = urlencode({'ArtistSearch':artist})

This sets the variable artist equal to:

ArtistSearch=Kruder+%26+Dorfmeister

Encoding strings for URLs is an easy problem to solve, and it's something to look at if your XML/HTTP requests aren't working quite right.