PHP
downloads | documentation | faq | getting help | mailing lists | reporting bugs | php.net sites | links | conferences | my php.net

search for in the

htmlspecialchars> <htmlentities
Last updated: Fri, 18 Jul 2008

view this page in

htmlspecialchars_decode

(PHP 5 >= 5.1.0)

htmlspecialchars_decode — Convert special HTML entities back to characters

Description

string htmlspecialchars_decode ( string $string [, int $quote_style ] )

This function is the opposite of htmlspecialchars(). It converts special HTML entities back to characters.

The converted entities are: &amp;, &quot; (when ENT_NOQUOTES is not set), &#039; (when ENT_QUOTES is set), &lt; and &gt;.

Parameters

string

The string to decode

quote_style

The quote style. One of the following constants:

quote_style constants
Constant Name Description
ENT_COMPAT Will convert double-quotes and leave single-quotes alone (default)
ENT_QUOTES Will convert both double and single quotes
ENT_NOQUOTES Will leave both double and single quotes unconverted

Return Values

Returns the decoded string.

Examples

Example #1 A htmlspecialchars_decode() example

<?php
$str 
'<p>this -&gt; &quot;</p>';

echo 
htmlspecialchars_decode($str);

// note that here the quotes aren't converted
echo htmlspecialchars_decode($strENT_NOQUOTES);
?>

The above example will output:

<p>this -> "</p>
<p>this -> &quot;</p>



htmlspecialchars> <htmlentities
Last updated: Fri, 18 Jul 2008
 
add a note add a note User Contributed Notes
htmlspecialchars_decode
thomas at xci[ignore_this]teit dot commm
28-Mar-2008 01:03
The example for "htmlspecialchars_decode()" below sadly does not work for all PHP4 versions.

Quote from the PHP manual:
"get_html_translation_table() will return the translation table that is used internally for htmlspecialchars() and htmlentities()."

But it does NOT! At least not for PHP version 4.4.2.
This was already reported in a bug report (http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=25927), but it was marked as BOGUS.

Proof:
  Code:
--------------------
<?php
    var_dump
(get_html_translation_table(HTML_SPECIALCHARS,ENT_QUOTES));
   
var_dump(htmlspecialchars('\'',ENT_QUOTES));
?>
--------------------

  Output:
--------------------
array
  '"' => '&quot;'
  ''' => '&#39;'
  '<' => '&lt;'
  '>' => '&gt;'
  '&' => '&amp;'

'&#039;'
--------------------

This comment now is not to report this bug again (though I really believe it is one), but to complete the example and warn people of this pitfall.

To make sure your htmlspecialchars_decode fake for PHP4 works, you should do something like this:

<?php
   
function htmlspecialchars_decode($string,$style=ENT_COMPAT)
    {
       
$translation = array_flip(get_html_translation_table(HTML_SPECIALCHARS,$style));
        if(
$style === ENT_QUOTES){ $translation['&#039;'] = '\''; }
        return
strtr($string,$translation);
    }
?>

Br, Thomas
Wout
28-Jul-2007 07:06
The following replacement for PHP 4 is a little more complete, as the quote_style is taken into account as well:

if (!function_exists("htmlspecialchars_decode")) {
    function htmlspecialchars_decode($string, $quote_style = ENT_COMPAT) {
        return strtr($string, array_flip(get_html_translation_table(HTML_SPECIALCHARS, $quote_style)));
    }
}
17-Aug-2006 03:49
This should be the best way to do it.
(Reposted because the other one seems a bit slower and because those who used the code under called it htmlspecialchars_decode_php4)

<?php

if ( !function_exists('htmlspecialchars_decode') )
{
    function
htmlspecialchars_decode($text)
    {
        return
strtr($text, array_flip(get_html_translation_table(HTML_SPECIALCHARS)));
    }
}

?>
TheSin
10-May-2006 12:51
Here is how you can get this function in php < 5.1, just make sure this function is before you try and call the function.

if (!function_exists('htmlspecialchars_decode')) {
        function htmlspecialchars_decode($str, $options="") {
                $trans = get_html_translation_table(HTML_SPECIALCHARS, $options);

                $decode = ARRAY();
                foreach ($trans AS $char=>$entity) {
                        $decode[$entity] = $char;
                }

                $str = strtr($str, $decode);

                return $str;
        }
}
se at designlinks dot net
14-Dec-2005 06:43
The code supplied by or-k at or-k dot com (14-Sep-2005 09:15) is better served using html_entity_decode() for PHP>=4.3.0.
geoffers@gmail (14-Jul-2005 01:38) offers the best htmlspecialchars_decode() for php4 users.
or-k at or-k dot com
14-Sep-2005 12:15
that works also with &auml; and &quot; and so on.
get_html_translation_table(HTML_ENTITIES) => offers more characters than HTML_SPECIALCHARS

function htmlspecialchars_decode_PHP4($uSTR)
{
 return strtr($uSTR, array_flip(get_html_translation_table(HTML_ENTITIES, ENT_QUOTES)));
}
geoffers@gmail
14-Jul-2005 04:38
[Update of previous note, having noticed I forgot to put in quote style]

PHP4 Compatible function:

<?php

function htmlspecialchars_decode_php4 ($str, $quote_style = ENT_COMPAT) {
    return
strtr($str, array_flip(get_html_translation_table(HTML_SPECIALCHARS, $quote_style)));
}

?>
geoffers at gmail dot com
14-Jul-2005 04:30
For PHP4 Compatibility:

<?php

function htmlspecialchars_decode_php4 ($str) {
    return
strtr($str, array_flip(get_html_translation_table(HTML_SPECIALCHARS)));
}

?>

htmlspecialchars> <htmlentities
Last updated: Fri, 18 Jul 2008
 
 
show source | credits | stats | sitemap | contact | advertising | mirror sites