PHP Manual
Prev |  | Next

# htmlspecialchars_decode

(PHP 5 >= 5.1.0RC1)

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: &amp;, &quot; (when ENT_NOQUOTES is not set), &#039; (when ENT_QUOTES is set), &lt; and &gt;.

## Parameters

string

  The string to decode

quote_style

  The quote style. One of the following constants:

  Table 1. 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>

## See Also

htmlspecialchars()
html_entity_decode()
get_html_translation_table()

Prev | Home | Next
htmlentities | Up | htmlspecialchars