Java Escape HTML – Encode String to HTML

Java examples of escaping the characters in a String using HTML entities. The encoding process converts a Java String to equivalent HTML content browsers can print.

1. Using StringEscapeUtils.escapeHtml4()

The StringEscapeUtils class is part of Apache common-text library. It takes a raw string as a parameter and then escapes the characters using HTML entities. It supports all known HTML 4.0 entities.

Note that Apostrophe escape character (') is not a legal entity and so is not supported.

1.1. Maven

To use StringEscapeUtils, import the lastest version of commons-text dependency.

<dependency>
  <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
  <artifactId>commons-text</artifactId>
  <version>1.4</version>
</dependency>

1.2. Example

Now we use StringEscapeUtils.escapeHtml4() method as follows:

String unEscapedString = "<java>public static void main(String[] args) { ... }</java>";
 
String escapedHTML = StringEscapeUtils.escapeHtml4(unEscapedString);

System.out.println(escapedHTML);  //Browser can now parse this and print

The program outputs:

<java>public static void main(String[] args) { ... }</java>

2. Custom StringUtils.encodeHtml()

If we have certain requirements where we need to modify the logic provided by library methods, the we can write our own method. Mostly this approach should be avoided, but it may be handy when requirements arises.

String unEscapedString = "<java>public static void main(String[] args) { ... }</java>";
 
String escapedHTML = StringUtils.encodeHtml(unEscapedString);
 
System.out.println(escapedHTML);  //Browser can now parse this and print

The StringUtils class is as follows. We can add, modify or remove entries from the htmlEncodeChars map to customize the behavior of the encoding function.

import java.util.HashMap;
 
public class StringUtils
{
    private static final HashMap<Character, String> htmlEncodeChars = new HashMap<>();
   
  static {
     
    // Special characters for HTML
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u0026', "&amp;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u003C', "&lt;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u003E', "&gt;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u0022', "&quot;");
     
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u0152', "&OElig;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u0153', "&oelig;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u0160', "&Scaron;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u0161', "&scaron;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u0178', "&Yuml;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u02C6', "&circ;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u02DC', "&tilde;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2002', "&ensp;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2003', "&emsp;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2009', "&thinsp;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u200C', "&zwnj;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u200D', "&zwj;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u200E', "&lrm;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u200F', "&rlm;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2013', "&ndash;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2014', "&mdash;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2018', "&lsquo;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2019', "&rsquo;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u201A', "&sbquo;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u201C', "&ldquo;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u201D', "&rdquo;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u201E', "&bdquo;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2020', "&dagger;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2021', "&Dagger;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2030', "&permil;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2039', "&lsaquo;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u203A', "&rsaquo;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u20AC', "&euro;");
     
    // Character entity references for ISO 8859-1 characters
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00A0', "&nbsp;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00A1', "&iexcl;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00A2', "&cent;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00A3', "&pound;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00A4', "&curren;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00A5', "&yen;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00A6', "&brvbar;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00A7', "&sect;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00A8', "&uml;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00A9', "&copy;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00AA', "&ordf;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00AB', "&laquo;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00AC', "&not;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00AD', "&shy;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00AE', "&reg;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00AF', "&macr;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00B0', "&deg;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00B1', "&plusmn;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00B2', "&sup2;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00B3', "&sup3;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00B4', "&acute;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00B5', "&micro;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00B6', "&para;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00B7', "&middot;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00B8', "&cedil;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00B9', "&sup1;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00BA', "&ordm;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00BB', "&raquo;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00BC', "&frac14;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00BD', "&frac12;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00BE', "&frac34;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00BF', "&iquest;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00C0', "&Agrave;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00C1', "&Aacute;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00C2', "&Acirc;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00C3', "&Atilde;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00C4', "&Auml;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00C5', "&Aring;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00C6', "&AElig;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00C7', "&Ccedil;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00C8', "&Egrave;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00C9', "&Eacute;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00CA', "&Ecirc;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00CB', "&Euml;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00CC', "&Igrave;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00CD', "&Iacute;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00CE', "&Icirc;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00CF', "&Iuml;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00D0', "&ETH;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00D1', "&Ntilde;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00D2', "&Ograve;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00D3', "&Oacute;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00D4', "&Ocirc;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00D5', "&Otilde;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00D6', "&Ouml;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00D7', "&times;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00D8', "&Oslash;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00D9', "&Ugrave;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00DA', "&Uacute;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00DB', "&Ucirc;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00DC', "&Uuml;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00DD', "&Yacute;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00DE', "&THORN;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00DF', "&szlig;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00E0', "&agrave;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00E1', "&aacute;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00E2', "&acirc;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00E3', "&atilde;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00E4', "&auml;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00E5', "&aring;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00E6', "&aelig;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00E7', "&ccedil;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00E8', "&egrave;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00E9', "&eacute;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00EA', "&ecirc;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00EB', "&euml;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00EC', "&igrave;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00ED', "&iacute;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00EE', "&icirc;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00EF', "&iuml;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00F0', "&eth;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00F1', "&ntilde;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00F2', "&ograve;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00F3', "&oacute;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00F4', "&ocirc;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00F5', "&otilde;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00F6', "&ouml;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00F7', "&divide;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00F8', "&oslash;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00F9', "&ugrave;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00FA', "&uacute;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00FB', "&ucirc;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00FC', "&uuml;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00FD', "&yacute;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00FE', "&thorn;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u00FF', "&yuml;");
     
    // Mathematical, Greek and Symbolic characters for HTML
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u0192', "&fnof;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u0391', "&Alpha;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u0392', "&Beta;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u0393', "&Gamma;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u0394', "&Delta;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u0395', "&Epsilon;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u0396', "&Zeta;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u0397', "&Eta;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u0398', "&Theta;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u0399', "&Iota;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u039A', "&Kappa;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u039B', "&Lambda;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u039C', "&Mu;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u039D', "&Nu;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u039E', "&Xi;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u039F', "&Omicron;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03A0', "&Pi;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03A1', "&Rho;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03A3', "&Sigma;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03A4', "&Tau;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03A5', "&Upsilon;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03A6', "&Phi;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03A7', "&Chi;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03A8', "&Psi;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03A9', "&Omega;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03B1', "&alpha;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03B2', "&beta;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03B3', "&gamma;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03B4', "&delta;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03B5', "&epsilon;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03B6', "&zeta;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03B7', "&eta;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03B8', "&theta;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03B9', "&iota;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03BA', "&kappa;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03BB', "&lambda;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03BC', "&mu;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03BD', "&nu;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03BE', "&xi;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03BF', "&omicron;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03C0', "&pi;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03C1', "&rho;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03C2', "&sigmaf;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03C3', "&sigma;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03C4', "&tau;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03C5', "&upsilon;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03C6', "&phi;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03C7', "&chi;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03C8', "&psi;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03C9', "&omega;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03D1', "&thetasym;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03D2', "&upsih;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u03D6', "&piv;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2022', "&bull;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2026', "&hellip;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2032', "&prime;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2033', "&Prime;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u203E', "&oline;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2044', "&frasl;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2118', "&weierp;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2111', "&image;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u211C', "&real;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2122', "&trade;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2135', "&alefsym;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2190', "&larr;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2191', "&uarr;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2192', "&rarr;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2193', "&darr;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2194', "&harr;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u21B5', "&crarr;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u21D0', "&lArr;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u21D1', "&uArr;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u21D2', "&rArr;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u21D3', "&dArr;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u21D4', "&hArr;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2200', "&forall;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2202', "&part;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2203', "&exist;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2205', "&empty;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2207', "&nabla;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2208', "&isin;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2209', "&notin;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u220B', "&ni;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u220F', "&prod;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2211', "&sum;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2212', "&minus;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2217', "&lowast;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u221A', "&radic;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u221D', "&prop;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u221E', "&infin;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2220', "&ang;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2227', "&and;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2228', "&or;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2229', "&cap;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u222A', "&cup;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u222B', "&int;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2234', "&there4;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u223C', "&sim;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2245', "&cong;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2248', "&asymp;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2260', "&ne;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2261', "&equiv;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2264', "&le;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2265', "&ge;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2282', "&sub;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2283', "&sup;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2284', "&nsub;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2286', "&sube;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2287', "&supe;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2295', "&oplus;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2297', "&otimes;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u22A5', "&perp;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u22C5', "&sdot;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2308', "&lceil;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2309', "&rceil;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u230A', "&lfloor;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u230B', "&rfloor;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2329', "&lang;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u232A', "&rang;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u25CA', "&loz;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2660', "&spades;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2663', "&clubs;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2665', "&hearts;");
    htmlEncodeChars.put('\u2666', "&diams;");
  }
   
  public static String encodeHtml(String source) {
    return encode(source, htmlEncodeChars);
  }
   
   
  private static String encode(String source, HashMap<Character, String> encodingTable) {

    if (null == source) {
      return null;
    }
     
    if (null == encodingTable) {
      return source;
    }
     
    StringBuffer  encoded_string = null;
    char[]      string_to_encode_array = source.toCharArray();
    int       last_match = -1;
    int       difference = 0;
     
    for (int i = 0; i < string_to_encode_array.length; i++) {
      char char_to_encode = string_to_encode_array[i];
       
      if (encodingTable.containsKey(char_to_encode)) {

        if (null == encoded_string) {

          encoded_string = new StringBuffer(source.length());
        }
        difference = i - (last_match + 1);
        if (difference > 0) {
          encoded_string.append(string_to_encode_array, last_match + 1, difference);
        }
        encoded_string.append(encodingTable.get(char_to_encode));
        last_match = i;
      }
    }
     
    if (null == encoded_string) {
      return source;
    } else {
      difference = string_to_encode_array.length - (last_match + 1);
      if (difference > 0) {
        encoded_string.append(string_to_encode_array, last_match + 1, difference);
      }
      return encoded_string.toString();
    }
  }
}

Happy Learning !!

References:

HTML 4.01 Character References
StringEscapeUtils.escapeHtml4()