htmlspecialchars_decode

Convert special HTML entities back to characters

Syntax

htmlspecialchars_decode ( string $string [, int $flags = ENT_COMPAT | ENT_HTML401 ] ) : string

Parameters

string

The string to decode.

flags

A bitmask of one or more of the following flags, which specify how to handle quotes and which document type to use. The default is ENT_COMPAT | ENT_HTML401.

Constant Name	Description
ENT_COMPAT	Will convert double-quotes and leave single-quotes alone.
ENT_QUOTES	Will convert both double and single quotes.
ENT_NOQUOTES	Will leave both double and single quotes unconverted.
ENT_HTML401	Handle code as HTML 4.01.
ENT_XML1	Handle code as XML 1.
ENT_XHTML	Handle code as XHTML.
ENT_HTML5	Handle code as HTML 5.

Return

Returns the decoded string.

Examples

string

<?

$htmlspecialcharsstring = "& | &amp;" . PHP_EOL
. "\" | &quot;" . PHP_EOL
. "' | &#039;" . PHP_EOL
. "< | &lt;" . PHP_EOL
. "> | &gt;" . PHP_EOL
. "über | &uuml;ber" . PHP_EOL
. "<b>bold</b> | &lt;b&gt;bold&lt;/b&gt;";

$string = htmlspecialchars($htmlspecialcharsstring);

$return = html_entity_decode($string);

echo $return;

?>

& | &amp;
" | &quot;
' | &#039;
< | &lt;
> | &gt;
über | &uuml;ber
<b>bold</b> | &lt;b&gt;bold&lt;/b&gt;

flags

<?

$htmlspecialcharsstring = "& | &amp;" . PHP_EOL
. "\" | &quot;" . PHP_EOL
. "' | &#039;" . PHP_EOL
. "< | &lt;" . PHP_EOL
. "> | &gt;" . PHP_EOL
. "über | &uuml;ber" . PHP_EOL
. "<b>bold</b> | &lt;b&gt;bold&lt;/b&gt;";
$htmlspecialcharsflags = ENT_QUOTES;

$string = htmlspecialchars($htmlspecialcharsstring, $htmlspecialcharsflags);
$flags = ENT_QUOTES;

$return = html_entity_decode($string, $flags);

echo $return;

?>

& | &amp;
" | &quot;
' | &#039;
< | &lt;
> | &gt;
über | &uuml;ber
<b>bold</b> | &lt;b&gt;bold&lt;/b&gt;