PHP String htmlentities() Function

---

---

The PHP String htmlentities() function is used to convert all the applicable characters to HTML entities. It is identical to htmlspecialchars() in every manner except that, like htmlentities(), it converts all characters with HTML character entity equivalents into these entities.

The get_html_translation_table() method returns the translation table that was utilized based on the flags constants provided. If you want to decode instead (in reverse), use html_entity_decode().

Syntax

Below is the syntax of the PHP String htmlentities() function −

string htmlentities ( $string, $flags, $character-set, $double_encode)

Parameters

Here are the parameters of the htmlentities() function −

Available Flags Constants

Here are the list of available flags constants −

Supported Character sets

The following character sets are supported in with this function −

Return Value

The htmlentities() function returns the transformed string. If the string parameter has incorrect encoding, it will return an empty string, unless the ENT_IGNORE or ENT_SUBSTITUTE flags are specified.

PHP Version

First introduced in core PHP 4, the htmlentities() function continues to function easily in PHP 5, PHP 7, and PHP 8.

Example 1

First we will show you the basic example of the PHP String htmlentities() function to convert all the applicable characters to HTML entities.

<?php
   // Define a string here
   $str = "PHP Function htmlentities";
      
   // Use htmlentities() function here
   echo htmlentities($str);
   echo htmlentities($str, ENT_QUOTES);
?>

Output

Here is the outcome of the following code −

PHP Function htmlentitiesPHP Function htmlentities

Example 2

In the below PHP code we will use the htmlentities() function and convert the given string to html entities.

<?php
   $str = "The 'quote' is <b>bold</b>";

   echo htmlentities($str);
   echo "\n\n";
   echo htmlentities($str, ENT_COMPAT);
?> 

Output

This will generate the below output (View Source) −

The & #039;quote& #039; is & lt;b& gt;bold& lt;/b& gt;

The 'quote' is & lt;b& gt;bold& lt;/b& gt;

Example 3

Now in the below code we will use htmlentities() function and also use ENT_IGNORE flag as an argument and see the result how this function works.

<?php
   $str = "\x8F!!!";

   // Outputs an empty string
   echo htmlentities($str, ENT_QUOTES, "UTF-8");

   // Outputs "!!!"
   echo htmlentities($str, ENT_QUOTES | ENT_IGNORE, "UTF-8");
?> 

Output

This will create the below output −

!!!

Example 4

In the following example, we are using the htmlentities() function to convert some characters to HTML entities.

<?php
   $str = "Albert Einstein Invented: 'E=MC'";
   
   // only converts double quotes
   echo htmlentities($str, ENT_COMPAT); 
   echo "\n";

   // Converts double and single quotes
   echo htmlentities($str, ENT_QUOTES); 
   echo "\n";
   
   // Does not convert any quotes
   echo htmlentities($str, ENT_NOQUOTES); 
?> 

Output

Following is the output of the above code (View Source) −

Albert Einstein Invented: 'E=MC& sup2;'
Albert Einstein Invented: & #039;E=MC& sup2;& #039;
Albert Einstein Invented: 'E=MC& sup2;'