html entities in a javascript alert?

Question

I have a string coming from a XML (which I can't edit) and I'd like to print it trough an alert in javascript.

Example of my string:

This is &agrave; string

And I need to print in an alert:

This is à string

is there a js html decode?

You need to show a little code which demonstrates how this values makes its way from the XML into the JS. — JAAulde, Feb 18 '13 at 13:13
if you using jquery this question tells you how http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1147359/how-to-decode-html-entities-using-jquery — olly_uk, Feb 18 '13 at 13:14

score 14 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:53

14

you could put the string in a dom element and read it out again, even without jquery: https://stackoverflow.com/a/3700369/1986499

Edit by recent demand to include some code from another SO answer:

var div = document.createElement('div');
div.innerHTML = encoded;
var decoded = div.firstChild.nodeValue;

edited May 23 '17 at 11:53

Community

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answered Feb 18 '13 at 13:17

Imperative

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Just because the question is a duplicate doesn't mean you should post a link-only answer. – TobiMcNamobi May 20 '15 at 12:58

score 11 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 18 '13 at 13:16

11

var encoded = "This is &agrave; string";
var decoded = $("<div/>").html(encoded).text();
alert(decoded);

answered Feb 18 '13 at 13:16

gregjer

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What this answer fails to mention is that, despite the question not being tagged with it, **you need the jQuery library to use this answer**. Without jQuery you'll be greeted with a lovely DOMException error. – James Donnelly May 20 '15 at 08:45

score 1 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:53

I'm just a tiny bit late, but just in case anyone else finds this via Google (like I did), I thought I'd improve upon Imperative's answer.

function showbullet() {
  var tempelement = document.createElement('div');
  tempelement.innerHTML = "&bull;";
  alert("Here, have a bullet!\n" + tempelement.innerHTML);
}
showbullet();

I've tested this and confirmed it works in Chrome/43.0.2357.130 m; Firefox/32.0.1; Internet Explorer/9.0.8112.16421. There's no need to go mucking about with nodeValue's and what not; the entity will be replaced with it's associated character as soon as the assignment is complete. (Note, however, that doing alert(tempelement.innerHTML="•"); does not work in any of the browsers I tested!)

html entities in a javascript alert?

3 Answers3

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