Unescape HTML Characters with JavaScript

Introduction

In this lab, we will explore how to unescape HTML characters using JavaScript. HTML escaping is a common technique used to encode special characters in HTML to prevent cross-site scripting attacks. However, sometimes we need to convert the escaped characters back to their original form. We will learn how to do this by creating a function that unescapes the most common HTML characters.

Unescape HTML

This function unescapes escaped HTML characters. To use it, follow these steps:

1. Open the Terminal/SSH.
2. Type node.
3. Copy and paste the following code:

const unescapeHTML = (str) =>
  str.replace(
    /&|<|>|'|"/g,
    (tag) =>
      ({
        "&": "&",
        "&lt;": "<",
        "&gt;": ">",
        "&#39;": "'",
        "&quot;": '"'
      })[tag] || tag
  );

4. Call the unescapeHTML function and pass it a string with escaped characters.
5. The function will return the unescaped string.

Example usage:

unescapeHTML("<a href="#">Me & you</a>");
// '<a href="#">Me & you</a>'

Summary

Congratulations! You have completed the Unescape HTML lab. You can practice more labs in LabEx to improve your skills.