From a85eb3065979bc176cf9b0bb002e4301b54decce Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "suks.ae" <suks.ae@gmx.at>
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2026 12:10:16 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] escape characters instead of angle brackets

---
 src/_P037_MQTTImport.ino         | 14 +++++---------
 src/src/Helpers/StringParser.cpp | 11 +++++++++++
 src/src/Helpers/StringParser.h   |  2 ++
 3 files changed, 18 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/_P037_MQTTImport.ino b/src/_P037_MQTTImport.ino
index f1aaf51a5..d355fe267 100644
--- a/src/_P037_MQTTImport.ino
+++ b/src/_P037_MQTTImport.ino
@@ -632,8 +632,6 @@ boolean Plugin_037(uint8_t function, struct EventStruct *event, String& string)
                 }
                 UserVar.setFloat(event->TaskIndex, x, doublePayload);      // Save the new value
 
-
-
                 // Generate event for rules processing - proposed by TridentTD
 
                 if (Settings.UseRules && P037_SEND_EVENTS) {
@@ -661,11 +659,10 @@ boolean Plugin_037(uint8_t function, struct EventStruct *event, String& string)
                     }
                     P037_addEventToQueue(event, RuleEvent);
                   }
-                  else
-                  { // Generate event of all non-json topic/payloads
+                  else // Generate event of all non-json topic/payloads
+                  {
                     String tmp = unparsedPayload;
-                    tmp.replace('}', '>'); // Replace curly braces by angle brackets to avoid problems with string processing in rules
-                    tmp.replace('{', '<');
+                    addEscapeCharacters(tmp); // Add escape characters to avoid problems with rules processing if a JSON message is received
 
                     String RuleEvent = strformat(F("%s#%s=%s"),
                                                 getTaskDeviceName(event->TaskIndex).c_str(),
@@ -697,9 +694,8 @@ boolean Plugin_037(uint8_t function, struct EventStruct *event, String& string)
                     RuleEvent += toString(doublePayload, ExtraTaskSettings.TaskDeviceValueDecimals[x]);
                   } else {
                     String tmp = Payload;
-                    tmp.replace('}', '>');  // Replace curly braces by angle brackets to avoid problems with 
-                    tmp.replace('{', '<');  // string processing in rules if a JSON message is received
-
+                    addEscapeCharacters(tmp); // Add escape characters to avoid problems with rules processing if a JSON message is received
+					
                     RuleEvent += wrapWithQuotesIfContainsParameterSeparatorChar(tmp);
                   }
                   P037_addEventToQueue(event, RuleEvent);
diff --git a/src/src/Helpers/StringParser.cpp b/src/src/Helpers/StringParser.cpp
index d0e487d4d..ccf985cf7 100644
--- a/src/src/Helpers/StringParser.cpp
+++ b/src/src/Helpers/StringParser.cpp
@@ -46,6 +46,17 @@ void stripEscapeCharacters(String& str)
   }
 }
 
+void addEscapeCharacters(String& str)
+{
+  const char braces[]     = { '%', '[', ']', '{', '}', '(', ')' };
+  constexpr uint8_t nrbraces = NR_ELEMENTS(braces);
+
+  for (uint8_t i = 0; i < nrbraces; ++i) {
+    const String s(concat(F("\\"), braces[i]));
+    str.replace(s.substring(1), s);
+  }
+}
+
 #if FEATURE_STRING_VARIABLES
 String parseTemplateAndCalculate(String& tmpString) {
   stripEscapeCharacters(tmpString);
diff --git a/src/src/Helpers/StringParser.h b/src/src/Helpers/StringParser.h
index 939a6d718..25406e881 100644
--- a/src/src/Helpers/StringParser.h
+++ b/src/src/Helpers/StringParser.h
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ bool hasEscapedCharacter(String& str, const char EscapeChar);
 // So far \\% \\[ \\] \\{ \\} \\( and \\) are used (all with single backslash!)
 void   stripEscapeCharacters(String& str);
 
+void   addEscapeCharacters(String& str);
+
 #if FEATURE_STRING_VARIABLES
 String parseTemplateAndCalculate(String& tmpString);
 uint8_t getDerivedValueCountForTask(taskIndex_t taskIndex);