can't display quoted text in input box

Replace each double-quote character with """

that would mean manually editing the string. This is the basic reason why i have decoded the text.. Is there no way i can have the text displayed  without having to modify every special character?

Why would you have to manually edit it?  Why couldn't you write a statement in whichever server-side language you are using to automatically replace those chracters?

Yes that is what i meant .. if i replace characters would i not need to replace all special characters? Is there a more generic approach to the issue?
For instance we URLEncode strings to avoid these issues and then decode on server side. My only problem is getting the text displayed on the input box..
Thank you for your attention into the matter..

All this code comes within a portlet deployed under liferay..
I encode the string before saving it in the database using:
   sql_query1 = java.net.URLEncoder.encode(request.getParameter("sql_query1"));
          prefs.setValue("SQL_QUERY1", sql_query1);

When the user needs to edit entered values i retrieve the data and decode it using
  String sql_query1 = prefs.getValue("SQL_QUERY1", "Column1");
      sql_query1=java.net.URLDecoder.decode(sql_query1,"UTF8");

now <%=sql_query1%> has the decoded value which is a string eg "id" with quotes. This data does not show up when applied to the input box
Select Y1:<input type='text' name='<portlet:namespace />sql_query1' value="<%=sql_query1%>"  size="10">

i tried printing sql_query1 on the html page and it shows the data fine.. so why not in the text box...
Again i need a generic technique of handling this issue..

Well problem is really not trival hmm... I can propose you at least 2 solutions:

1. Use a <textarea> </textarea>  and put decoded conent there (simple solution).

2. (more complex). Instead of decoding on server side, pass this value to javascript and decode it on client side using one of those:

decodeURI   or
decodeURIComponent

like this:

<td NOWRAP>Select Y1:<input id='idY1' type='text' name='<portlet:namespace />sql_query1' value=""  size="10">

<script type="text/javascript">
   document.getElementById('idY1').value = decodeURIComponent(<%=sql_query1%>);
</script>

thank you so much... will try out and let you know.
Cheers

using your solution now ..thanks wilq32