(PHP 5 >= 5.1.0, PHP 7)
htmlspecialchars_decode — Convert special HTML entities back to characters
htmlspecialchars_decode ( string $string [, int $flags = ENT_COMPAT ] ) : string
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 >.
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. |
Returns the decoded string.
Example #1 A htmlspecialchars_decode() example
<?php $str = "<p>this -> "</p>\n"; echo htmlspecialchars_decode($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 -> "</p>
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https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.phpspecialchars-decode.html