I've noticed a common misperception here. If this XML is being sent the way I think it is, it's not URL encoded at all. In your example LWP script, for instance, it's being POSTed as text/xml, not text/url-encoded (or whatever).

Luckily, since the message is being sent raw you don't have to worry much about escaping/unescaping or similar.

This is common for SOAP-type messages as well. The answer is to roll your own (if it's raw XML) or use SOAP::Lite (if it's SOAP.) I did a bit of each for my own server. I can post examples if you wish.

Now merlyn can flame me. :)

~chris