What is html special characters php?

❮ PHP String Reference

Example

Convert the predefined characters "<" (less than) and ">" (greater than) to HTML entities:

$str = "This is some bold text.";
echo htmlspecialchars($str);
?>

The HTML output of the code above will be (View Source):

This is some <b>bold</b> text.

The browser output of the code above will be:

This is some bold text.

Try it Yourself »

Definition and Usage

The htmlspecialchars() function converts some predefined characters to HTML entities.

The predefined characters are:

• & (ampersand) becomes &
• " (double quote) becomes "
• ' (single quote) becomes '
• < (less than) becomes <
• > (greater than) becomes >

Tip: To convert special HTML entities back to characters, use the htmlspecialchars_decode() function.

Syntax

htmlspecialchars(string,flags,character-set,double_encode)

Parameter Values

Technical Details

More Examples

Example

Convert some predefined characters to HTML entities:

$str = "Jane & 'Tarzan'";
echo htmlspecialchars($str, ENT_COMPAT); // Will only convert double quotes
echo "
";
echo htmlspecialchars($str, ENT_QUOTES); // Converts double and single quotes
echo "
";
echo htmlspecialchars($str, ENT_NOQUOTES); // Does not convert any quotes
?>

The HTML output of the code above will be (View Source):

Jane & 'Tarzan'

Jane & 'Tarzan'

Jane & 'Tarzan'

The browser output of the code above will be:

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

Try it Yourself »

Example

Convert double quotes to HTML entities:

$str = 'I love "PHP".';
echo htmlspecialchars($str, ENT_QUOTES); // Converts double and single quotes
?>

The HTML output of the code above will be (View Source):

I love "PHP".

The browser output of the code above will be:

I love "PHP".

Try it Yourself »

❮ PHP String Reference

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