javascript - convert string that contains <,> (Special chars) to html

Question

I have a string that is, <some text>
I'm trying to highlight the "te" in it, using replace function

 InnerHTML = innerHTML.replace(some_Regex_Pattern['te'], '<span style='background-color:#FFFB00'>$&</span>');

The string I obtain is,

<some <span class='highlight' style='background-color:#FFFB00'>te</span>xt>

Now setting this to element.innerHTML, is considered as an HTML tag, causing problem.
In DOM I get the element as

<some <span class='highlight' style='background-color:#FFFB00'>te</span>xt></some>

I get the string in malformed form, how can I convert it to correct format, without making changes to the correct html tag i.e here?

How can I solve this issue,.. If it is not understandable, please comment,..

Answer 1

You have to replace < by < and > by > before replacing the te.

innerHTML.replace('<', '&lt;').replace('>', '&gt;')...