Question

161

Decode HTML entities in JavaScript?

rated 0 times [ 165] [ 4] / answers: 1 / hits: 17867 / 14 Years ago, tue, may 11, 2010, 12:00:00

Sample conversions:

 &amp; -> `&`

 &gt;  -> `>`

Any small library function that can handle this?

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carlton

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2 Years ago

answered 14 Years ago kamronr · Accepted Answer

I have on my utility belt this tiny function always:

function htmlDecode(input){

  var e = document.createElement('div');

  e.innerHTML = input;

  return e.childNodes[0].nodeValue;

}



htmlDecode(&amp;); // &

htmlDecode(&gt;); // >

It will work for all HTML Entities.

Edit: Since you aren't in a DOM environment, I think you will have to do it by the hard way:

function htmlDecode (input) {

  return input.replace(/&amp;/g, &)

              .replace(/&lt;/g, <)

              .replace(/&gt;/g, >);

              //...

}

If you don't like the chained replacements, you could build an object to store your entities, e.g.:

function htmlDecode (input) {

  var entities= {

    &amp;: &,

    &lt;: <,

    &gt;: >

    //....

  };



  for (var prop in entities) {

    if (entities.hasOwnProperty(prop)) {

      input = input.replace(new RegExp(prop, g), entities[prop]);

    }

  }

  return input;

}