Page source command returns invalid output when < character appears on page

The problem

I’m trying to parse driver.page_source command output and expect it to be a valid XML in native applications contexts. This worked in the older versions of Appium server, but starting from 1.21 when a < symbol appear on page, the command responds with invalid XML output - a < symbol does not get escaped with < as it should.

Environment

• Appium version (or git revision) that exhibits the issue: 1.21
• Last Appium version that did not exhibit the issue (if applicable): 1.20
• Desktop OS/version used to run Appium: 1.21
• Node.js version (unless using Appium.app|exe): -
• Npm or Yarn package manager: npm
• Mobile platform/version under test: iOS 14.4, XCUITest driver
• Real device or emulator/simulator: iPhone 12 simulator
• Appium CLI or Appium.app|exe: Appium.app

Details

My steps to reproduce are:

1. Open iOS simulator
2. Open Messages application
3. In the text field, type Test <>"'&
4. Start session with the device using Appium client python library
5. Query driver.page_source() command and try to parse its output with XML parser

Actual result: Page source contains forbidden < symbol inside element attribute so it cannot be parsed. Please note that & and " get escaped as expected:

value="Test <>&quot;'&amp;"

You can check out full page source here.

Here is my sample script: test_page_source.py

Screenshot of application state:

Link to Appium logs

https://gist.github.com/a-bastrykina/4d0e7eac28bc2e4814a0134082036e23

Code To Reproduce Issue [ Good To Have ]

Please remember that with sample code it’s easier to reproduce the bug and it’s much faster to fix it.

Please git clone https://github.com/appium/appium and from the sample-code directory, use one of your favourite languages and sample apps to reproduce the issue.

In case a similar scenario is missing in sample-code, please submit a PR with one of the sample apps provided.

[a-bastrykina]

Thanks. I checked with appium@beta and confirm that the issue is fixed.

[mykola-mokhnach]

the only way to get it is via NPM: npm i -g appium@beta