W3Schools.com

PHP html_entity_decode() Function

PHP String Reference Complete PHP String Reference

Definition and Usage

The html_entity_decode() function converts HTML entities to characters.

The html_entity_decode() function is the opposite of htmlentities().

Syntax

html_entity_decode(string,quotestyle,character-set)

Parameter Description
string Required. Specifies the string to decode
quotestyle Optional. Specifies how to decode single and double quotes.

The available quote styles are:

  • ENT_COMPAT - Default. Decodes only double quotes
  • ENT_QUOTES - Decodes double and single quotes
  • ENT_NOQUOTES - Does not decode any quotes
character-set Optional. A string that specifies which character-set to use.

Allowed values are:

  • ISO-8859-1 - Default. Western European
  • ISO-8859-15 - Western European (adds the Euro sign + French and Finnish letters missing in ISO-8859-1)
  • UTF-8 - ASCII compatible multi-byte 8-bit Unicode
  • cp866 - DOS-specific Cyrillic charset
  • cp1251 - Windows-specific Cyrillic charset
  • cp1252 - Windows specific charset for Western European
  • KOI8-R - Russian
  • BIG5 - Traditional Chinese, mainly used in Taiwan
  • GB2312 - Simplified Chinese, national standard character set
  • BIG5-HKSCS - Big5 with Hong Kong extensions
  • Shift_JIS - Japanese
  • EUC-JP - Japanese

Tips and Notes

Note: Unrecognized character-sets will be ignored and replaced by ISO-8859-1.

Example 1

<?php
$str = "Jane &amp; &#039;Tarzan&#039;";
echo html_entity_decode($str);
echo "<br />";
echo html_entity_decode($str, ENT_QUOTES);
echo "<br />";
echo html_entity_decode($str, ENT_NOQUOTES);
?>

The browser output of the code above will be:

Jane & 'Tarzan'
Jane & 'Tarzan'
Jane & 'Tarzan'

If you select "View source" in the browser window, you will see the following HTML:

<html>
<body>
Jane & &#039;Tarzan&#039;<br />
Jane & 'Tarzan'<br />
Jane & &#039;Tarzan&#039;
</body>
</html>

Example 2

<html>
<body>
<?php
$str = "My name is &Oslash;yvind &Aring;sane. I&#039;m Norwegian";
echo html_entity_decode($str, ENT_QUOTES, "ISO-8859-1");
?>
</body>
</html>

The browser output of the code above will be:

My name is Øyvind Åsane. I'm Norwegian

If you select "View source" in the browser window, you will see the following HTML:

<html>
<body>
My name is Øyvind Åsane. I'm Norwegian
</body>
</html>

PHP String Reference Complete PHP String Reference
W3Schools Certification

W3Schools' Online Certification

The perfect solution for professionals who need to balance work, family, and career building.

More than 10 000 certificates already issued!

Get Your Certificate »

The HTML Certificate documents your knowledge of HTML.

The CSS Certificate documents your knowledge of advanced CSS.

The JavaScript Certificate documents your knowledge of JavaScript and HTML DOM.

The jQuery Certificate documents your knowledge of jQuery.

The XML Certificate documents your knowledge of XML, XML DOM and XSLT.

The ASP Certificate documents your knowledge of ASP, SQL, and ADO.

The PHP Certificate documents your knowledge of PHP and SQL (MySQL).

WEB HOSTING
Best Web Hosting
PHP MySQL Hosting
Best Hosting Coupons
UK Reseller Hosting
Cloud Hosting
Top Web Hosting
$3.98 Unlimited Hosting
Premium Website Design
WEB BUILDING
Download XML Editor
FREE Website BUILDER
Best Website Templates Top CSS Templates
CREATE HTML Websites
EASY WEBSITE BUILDER
W3SCHOOLS EXAMS
Get Certified in:
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, XML, PHP, and ASP
W3SCHOOLS BOOKS
New Books:
HTML, CSS
JavaScript, and Ajax
STATISTICS
Browser Statistics
Browser OS
Browser Display
SHARE THIS PAGE