HtmlEncode

String functions HtmlEncode

The HtmlEncode function encodes strings for safe use in HTML content by escaping special characters.

syntax

HtmlEncode(strings: E->String) -> E->String

definition

Converts strings to HTML-safe format by replacing special characters with HTML entity references:

Character	Entity
<	&lt;
>	&gt;
&	&amp;
"	&quot;
'	&#39;

This prevents:

• Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities
• Broken HTML structure from user content
• Display issues with special characters

arguments

argument	description	type
strings	Input strings to encode	E->String

performance

Time complexity: O(n × L) where n is the number of strings and L is the average string length.

Encoded strings are typically slightly longer than input strings.

example

unit<uint32> UserContent: nrofrows = 3;
attribute<String> raw_text (UserContent) := union_data(UserContent,
    'Hello <world>',
    'A & B',
    'Quote: "test"'
);

attribute<String> safe_html (UserContent) := HtmlEncode(raw_text);
// safe_html = {'Hello &lt;world&gt;', 'A &amp; B', 'Quote: &quot;test&quot;'}

// Safe to include in HTML output
parameter<String> html_template := '<div class="content">' + safe_html[0] + '</div>';

use cases

• Generating HTML reports with user-provided data
• Creating safe HTML exports
• Preventing script injection in web output

see also

• HtmlDecode - reverse operation
• UrlEncode - for URL parameters
• String functions

since version

7.0