htmlspecialchars

htmlentities

Last updated: Fri, 18 Jul 2008

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: &, " (when ENT_NOQUOTES is not set), ' (when ENT_QUOTES is set), < and >.

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($str, ENT_NOQUOTES);
?>

The above example will output:

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


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 09:06


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 05:49


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
09-May-2006 02:51


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 08:43


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 02:15


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 06:38


[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 06:30


For PHP4 Compatibility:



<?php



function htmlspecialchars_decode_php4 ($str) {

    return strtr($str, array_flip(get_html_translation_table(HTML_SPECIALCHARS)));

}



?>

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