# he [](https://travis-ci.org/mathiasbynens/he) [](https://coveralls.io/r/mathiasbynens/he) [](https://gemnasium.com/mathiasbynens/he)
_he_ (for “HTML entities”) is a robust HTML entity encoder/decoder written in JavaScript. It supports [all standardized named character references as per HTML](http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/named-character-references.html), handles [ambiguous ampersands](https://mathiasbynens.be/notes/ambiguous-ampersands) and other edge cases [just like a browser would](http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/tokenization.html#tokenizing-character-references), has an extensive test suite, and — contrary to many other JavaScript solutions — _he_ handles astral Unicode symbols just fine. [An online demo is available.](http://mothereff.in/html-entities)
## Installation
Via [npm](http://npmjs.org/):
```bash
npm install he
```
Via [Bower](http://bower.io/):
```bash
bower install he
```
Via [Component](https://github.com/component/component):
```bash
component install mathiasbynens/he
```
In a browser:
```html
```
In [Narwhal](http://narwhaljs.org/), [Node.js](http://nodejs.org/), and [RingoJS](http://ringojs.org/):
```js
var he = require('he');
```
In [Rhino](http://www.mozilla.org/rhino/):
```js
load('he.js');
```
Using an AMD loader like [RequireJS](http://requirejs.org/):
```js
require(
{
'paths': {
'he': 'path/to/he'
}
},
['he'],
function(he) {
console.log(he);
}
);
```
## API
### `he.version`
A string representing the semantic version number.
### `he.encode(text, options)`
This function takes a string of text and encodes (by default) any symbols that aren’t printable ASCII symbols and `&`, `<`, `>`, `"`, `'`, and `` ` ``, replacing them with character references.
```js
he.encode('foo © bar ≠ baz 𝌆 qux');
// → 'foo © bar ≠ baz 𝌆 qux'
```
As long as the input string contains [allowed code points](http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/parsing.html#preprocessing-the-input-stream) only, the return value of this function is always valid HTML. Any [(invalid) code points that cannot be represented using a character reference](http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/tokenization.html#table-charref-overrides) in the input are not encoded.
```js
he.encode('foo \0 bar');
// → 'foo \0 bar'
```
The `options` object is optional. It recognizes the following properties:
#### `useNamedReferences`
The default value for the `useNamedReferences` option is `false`. This means that `encode()` will not use any named character references (e.g. `©`) in the output — hexadecimal escapes (e.g. `©`) will be used instead. Set it to `true` to enable the use of named references.
**Note that if compatibility with older browsers is a concern, this option should remain disabled.**
```js
// Using the global default setting (defaults to `false`):
he.encode('foo © bar ≠ baz 𝌆 qux');
// → 'foo © bar ≠ baz 𝌆 qux'
// Passing an `options` object to `encode`, to explicitly disallow named references:
he.encode('foo © bar ≠ baz 𝌆 qux', {
'useNamedReferences': false
});
// → 'foo © bar ≠ baz 𝌆 qux'
// Passing an `options` object to `encode`, to explicitly allow named references:
he.encode('foo © bar ≠ baz 𝌆 qux', {
'useNamedReferences': true
});
// → 'foo © bar ≠ baz 𝌆 qux'
```
#### `encodeEverything`
The default value for the `encodeEverything` option is `false`. This means that `encode()` will not use any character references for printable ASCII symbols that don’t need escaping. Set it to `true` to encode every symbol in the input string. When set to `true`, this option takes precedence over `allowUnsafeSymbols` (i.e. setting the latter to `true` in such a case has no effect).
```js
// Using the global default setting (defaults to `false`):
he.encode('foo © bar ≠ baz 𝌆 qux');
// → 'foo © bar ≠ baz 𝌆 qux'
// Passing an `options` object to `encode`, to explicitly encode all symbols:
he.encode('foo © bar ≠ baz 𝌆 qux', {
'encodeEverything': true
});
// → 'foo © bar ≠ baz 𝌆 qux'
// This setting can be combined with the `useNamedReferences` option:
he.encode('foo © bar ≠ baz 𝌆 qux', {
'encodeEverything': true,
'useNamedReferences': true
});
// → 'foo © bar ≠ baz 𝌆 qux'
```
#### `strict`
The default value for the `strict` option is `false`. This means that `encode()` will encode any HTML text content you feed it, even if it contains any symbols that cause [parse errors](http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/parsing.html#preprocessing-the-input-stream). To throw an error when such invalid HTML is encountered, set the `strict` option to `true`. This option makes it possible to use _he_ as part of HTML parsers and HTML validators.
```js
// Using the global default setting (defaults to `false`, i.e. error-tolerant mode):
he.encode('\x01');
// → ''
// Passing an `options` object to `encode`, to explicitly enable error-tolerant mode:
he.encode('\x01', {
'strict': false
});
// → ''
// Passing an `options` object to `encode`, to explicitly enable strict mode:
he.encode('\x01', {
'strict': true
});
// → Parse error
```
#### `allowUnsafeSymbols`
The default value for the `allowUnsafeSymbols` option is `false`. This means that characters that are unsafe for use in HTML content (`&`, `<`, `>`, `"`, `'`, and `` ` ``) will be encoded. When set to `true`, only non-ASCII characters will be encoded. If the `encodeEverything` option is set to `true`, this option will be ignored.
```js
he.encode('foo © and & ampersand', {
'allowUnsafeSymbols': true
});
// → 'foo © and & ampersand'
```
#### Overriding default `encode` options globally
The global default setting can be overridden by modifying the `he.encode.options` object. This saves you from passing in an `options` object for every call to `encode` if you want to use the non-default setting.
```js
// Read the global default setting:
he.encode.options.useNamedReferences;
// → `false` by default
// Override the global default setting:
he.encode.options.useNamedReferences = true;
// Using the global default setting, which is now `true`:
he.encode('foo © bar ≠ baz 𝌆 qux');
// → 'foo © bar ≠ baz 𝌆 qux'
```
### `he.decode(html, options)`
This function takes a string of HTML and decodes any named and numerical character references in it using [the algorithm described in section 12.2.4.69 of the HTML spec](http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/tokenization.html#tokenizing-character-references).
```js
he.decode('foo © bar ≠ baz 𝌆 qux');
// → 'foo © bar ≠ baz 𝌆 qux'
```
The `options` object is optional. It recognizes the following properties:
#### `isAttributeValue`
The default value for the `isAttributeValue` option is `false`. This means that `decode()` will decode the string as if it were used in [a text context in an HTML document](http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/tokenization.html#data-state). HTML has different rules for [parsing character references in attribute values](http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/tokenization.html#character-reference-in-attribute-value-state) — set this option to `true` to treat the input string as if it were used as an attribute value.
```js
// Using the global default setting (defaults to `false`, i.e. HTML text context):
he.decode('foo&bar');
// → 'foo&bar'
// Passing an `options` object to `decode`, to explicitly assume an HTML text context:
he.decode('foo&bar', {
'isAttributeValue': false
});
// → 'foo&bar'
// Passing an `options` object to `decode`, to explicitly assume an HTML attribute value context:
he.decode('foo&bar', {
'isAttributeValue': true
});
// → 'foo&bar'
```
#### `strict`
The default value for the `strict` option is `false`. This means that `decode()` will decode any HTML text content you feed it, even if it contains any entities that cause [parse errors](http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/tokenization.html#tokenizing-character-references). To throw an error when such invalid HTML is encountered, set the `strict` option to `true`. This option makes it possible to use _he_ as part of HTML parsers and HTML validators.
```js
// Using the global default setting (defaults to `false`, i.e. error-tolerant mode):
he.decode('foo&bar');
// → 'foo&bar'
// Passing an `options` object to `decode`, to explicitly enable error-tolerant mode:
he.decode('foo&bar', {
'strict': false
});
// → 'foo&bar'
// Passing an `options` object to `decode`, to explicitly enable strict mode:
he.decode('foo&bar', {
'strict': true
});
// → Parse error
```
#### Overriding default `decode` options globally
The global default settings for the `decode` function can be overridden by modifying the `he.decode.options` object. This saves you from passing in an `options` object for every call to `decode` if you want to use a non-default setting.
```js
// Read the global default setting:
he.decode.options.isAttributeValue;
// → `false` by default
// Override the global default setting:
he.decode.options.isAttributeValue = true;
// Using the global default setting, which is now `true`:
he.decode('foo&bar');
// → 'foo&bar'
```
### `he.escape(text)`
This function takes a string of text and escapes it for use in text contexts in XML or HTML documents. Only the following characters are escaped: `&`, `<`, `>`, `"`, `'`, and `` ` ``.
```js
he.escape('
');
// → '<img src='x' onerror="prompt(1)">'
```
### `he.unescape(html, options)`
`he.unescape` is an alias for `he.decode`. It takes a string of HTML and decodes any named and numerical character references in it.
### Using the `he` binary
To use the `he` binary in your shell, simply install _he_ globally using npm:
```bash
npm install -g he
```
After that you will be able to encode/decode HTML entities from the command line:
```bash
$ he --encode 'föo ♥ bår 𝌆 baz'
föo ♥ bår 𝌆 baz
$ he --encode --use-named-refs 'föo ♥ bår 𝌆 baz'
föo ♥ bår 𝌆 baz
$ he --decode 'föo ♥ bår 𝌆 baz'
föo ♥ bår 𝌆 baz
```
Read a local text file, encode it for use in an HTML text context, and save the result to a new file:
```bash
$ he --encode < foo.txt > foo-escaped.html
```
Or do the same with an online text file:
```bash
$ curl -sL "http://git.io/HnfEaw" | he --encode > escaped.html
```
Or, the opposite — read a local file containing a snippet of HTML in a text context, decode it back to plain text, and save the result to a new file:
```bash
$ he --decode < foo-escaped.html > foo.txt
```
Or do the same with an online HTML snippet:
```bash
$ curl -sL "http://git.io/HnfEaw" | he --decode > decoded.txt
```
See `he --help` for the full list of options.
## Support
he has been tested in at least Chrome 27-29, Firefox 3-22, Safari 4-6, Opera 10-12, IE 6-10, Node.js v0.10.0, Narwhal 0.3.2, RingoJS 0.8-0.9, PhantomJS 1.9.0, and Rhino 1.7RC4.
## Unit tests & code coverage
After cloning this repository, run `npm install` to install the dependencies needed for he development and testing. You may want to install Istanbul _globally_ using `npm install istanbul -g`.
Once that’s done, you can run the unit tests in Node using `npm test` or `node tests/tests.js`. To run the tests in Rhino, Ringo, Narwhal, and web browsers as well, use `grunt test`.
To generate the code coverage report, use `grunt cover`.
## Acknowledgements
Thanks to [Simon Pieters](http://simon.html5.org/) ([@zcorpan](https://twitter.com/zcorpan)) for the many suggestions.
## Author
| [](https://twitter.com/mathias "Follow @mathias on Twitter") |
|---|
| [Mathias Bynens](https://mathiasbynens.be/) |
## License
_he_ is available under the [MIT](http://mths.be/mit) license.