php echo outputting html as text

Question

I am trying to use php to construct html code containing onclick="Javascript" within

i keep getting an error saying that i am missing a } within the console, however this is not the case.

despite the error the site displays perfectly

I then followed this post

How should I echo a PHP string variable that contains special characters?

and used the method htmlentities

at first it appeared to work correctly however i must have changed something because now it outputs the html string as text and not displaying the element

this issue is present across different platforms/browsers, so i dont believe that it is cache related problem.

there are other elements within the php script that output the html correctly, it just appears that its this line.

Thanks in advance

 echo htmlentities('<h2 class="page_title">' . $db_field['Title'] . '</h2><a onClick="showAndroidToast(' . $_SESSION['user_id'] . ',' . $db_field['ID'] . ')"><img src="/mobile/images/plus.png" style="width:25px;height:25px;float:right;margin-top:15px"></a>');

you should apply htmlentities to your db field only: echo ('<h2 class="page_title">' . htmlentities($db_field['Title']) . '</h2>.......'); — GrafiCode
– GrafiCode, Commented Oct 15, 2015 at 22:21

Barmar · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-15 22:22:06Z

1

You should not use htmlentities() on strings that you actually want to be interpreted as HTML, since it will convert the < and > into entities so they display literally. Just call it on the variables that you don't want interpreted:

echo '<h2 class="page_title">' . htmlentities($db_field['Title']) . '</h2><a onClick="showAndroidToast(' . $_SESSION['user_id'] . ',' . $db_field['ID'] . ')"><img src="/mobile/images/plus.png" style="width:25px;height:25px;float:right;margin-top:15px"></a>');

answered Oct 15, 2015 at 22:22

Barmar

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Loïc · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-15 22:24:14Z

0

Why such violence?

here is how to output templates using PHP :

<?php
//blablabla my php stuff here...
?>
<h2 class="page_title">
  <?=htmlentities($db_field['Title'])?>
</h2>
<a onclick="showAndroidToast('<?=$_SESSION[\'user_id\']?>','<?=$db_field[\'ID\']?>');
  <img src="/mobile/images/plus.png" style="width:25px;height:25px;float:right;margin-top:15px">
</a>

answered Oct 15, 2015 at 22:24

Loïc

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3 Comments

GrafiCode Over a year ago

no need to escape quotes inside your php short tags <a onclick="showAndroidToast('<?=$_SESSION[\'user_id\']?>','<?=$db_field[\'ID\']?>'); should be: <a onclick="showAndroidToast('<?=$_SESSION['user_id']?>','<?=$db_field['ID']?>');

Barmar Over a year ago

IMHO, it's not a good idea to use short tags in answers, as many sites many not have them enabled.

Loïc Over a year ago

Since PHP5.4 the tag <?= is always available regardless of the short_open_tag ini setting.

Paul Carlton · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-15 22:32:06Z

0

Whenever you call htmlentities(), whatever in it will be translated into characters that the browser interprets as literal symbols to show. This is how we can tell browsers to display HTML and code without actually interpreting it. It also allows us to show symbols we don't want the browser to accidentally parse. If you have a string containing HTML that you want to be interpreted by the browser, DO NOT use htmlentities().

You don't want:

print htmlentities("<h1>I have a < and > sign I don't want interpreted</h1>");

You actually do want:

print '<h1>' . htmlentities("I have a < and > sign I don't want interpreted") . '</h1>';

Read the docs: http://php.net/manual/en/function.htmlentities.php

edited Oct 15, 2015 at 22:32

answered Oct 15, 2015 at 22:26

Paul Carlton

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