Storing a conditional formatting formula in a variable

Question

I have a conditional formatting formula that exceeds the 393 character limit for Word fields. I've placed the formula directly into the template table, and it works correctly. But now, of course, there are several hundred characters of formatting information in that cell, along with the data field. Not pretty.
Is there a way to store that long formula into a variable, and then refer to that variable as the conditional format? I'm getting stuck on the right-arrow tags (>). I can't figure out how to include those in the string and store them in the variable.
Here's a simplified example of what I'm trying to do:
<?xdoxslt:set_variable($_XDOCTX,'myvar',"<?if:number(Sales) gt 1000000?><?attribute@incontext:color;'red'?><?end if?>")?>
The inclusion of the right-arrow tags (>) in the string causes a failure when attempting to Preview. If I replace all of the right-arrow tags with something else, like the number 8 ...
<?xdoxslt:set_variable($_XDOCTX,'myvar',"<?if:number(Sales) gt 1000000?8<?attribute@incontext:color;'red'?8<?end if?8")?>
... the string is stored in the variable, and I can refer to it in the template table by using <?xdoxslt:get_variable($_XDOCTX,'myvar')?>. It's useless, of course, but it works correctly. The string is stored in the variable, and the contents of the variable appear in the template.
So how can I imbed the right-arrow tags in this text string? Use an escape character? Imbed the ASCII code? I'd do either of those in a heartbeat if I could figure out the right syntax.

Answer 1

Related information is available at:
Where to put xsl:variable definition