java - Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected token ILLEGAL -

i have following code (jsp)

<%@ taglib prefix="c" uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core"%> <%@ taglib prefix="fmt" uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/fmt"%> <%@ taglib prefix="fn" uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/functions"%>     <script type="text/javascript">       $(document).ready(function() {            <c:foreach items="${messages}" var="msg"  varstatus="i">              alert("${msg.description}");           </c:foreach>       });  </script> 

ans messages arraylist passed jsp controller.

    model.addattribute("messages", messages);      return "the_above_jsp"; 

this working fine until description value hold following string value.

new task assigned project hip tensile strength analysis : data management/analysis task due date 20140408

when description has value show error uncaught syntaxerror: unexpected token illegal

why ?

i solved issue removing newline characters string description when set attribute , pass jsp.

    for(int i=0;i<messages.size();++i){         messages.get(i).setdescription(messages.get(i).getdescription().replaceall("\n", ""));               }       model.addattribute("messages", messages);      return "the_above_jsp"; 

but have no idea how worked. may illegal character newline character. or there may better explanation. please modify or add new answer though solved in wild guess.