[ASP.NET] How can I HTML-encode a string and use human-readable encoded tags (ex: ê instead of ê )

Question

Greetings, I'm looking for a way to encode a string into HTML that uses human-readable tags such as ê (=ê). At the moment, I am using the HttpUtility.HtmlEncode() function, but it appears to return numbered tags instead of human-readable ones. For example:

Dim str as string = HttpUtility;HtmlEncode("vente - en-tête")
'Expected: vente - en-tête
'Actually received: vente - en-tête

Is there a setting or function in ASP.Net to encode a string into HTML resembling the first comment?

EDIT: I am looking for this kind of functionality because the text is saved HTML-encoded in the database. The text comes from a bunch of MS Word documents that have been converted to HTML.

Answer 1

Here's a function that does the job :

    public static string EntitiesEncode(string value)
    {
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(value)) return value;

        var entities = new Dictionary<int, string>();
        entities.Add(160, "nbsp");
        entities.Add(161, "iexcl");
        entities.Add(162, "cent");
        entities.Add(163, "pound");
        entities.Add(164, "curren");
        entities.Add(165, "yen");
        entities.Add(166, "brvbar");
        entities.Add(167, "sect");
        entities.Add(168, "uml");
        entities.Add(169, "copy");
        entities.Add(170, "ordf");
        entities.Add(171, "laquo");
        entities.Add(172, "not");
        entities.Add(173, "shy");
        entities.Add(174, "reg");
        entities.Add(175, "macr");
        entities.Add(176, "deg");
        entities.Add(177, "plusmn");
        entities.Add(178, "sup2");
        entities.Add(179, "sup3");
        entities.Add(180, "acute");
        entities.Add(181, "micro");
        entities.Add(182, "para");
        entities.Add(183, "middot");
        entities.Add(184, "cedil");
        entities.Add(185, "sup1");
        entities.Add(186, "ordm");
        entities.Add(187, "raquo");
        entities.Add(188, "frac14");
        entities.Add(189, "frac12");
        entities.Add(190, "frac34");
        entities.Add(191, "iquest");
        entities.Add(192, "Agrave");
        entities.Add(193, "Aacute");
        entities.Add(194, "Acirc");
        entities.Add(195, "Atilde");
        entities.Add(196, "Auml");
        entities.Add(197, "Aring");
        entities.Add(198, "AElig");
        entities.Add(199, "Ccedil");
        entities.Add(200, "Egrave");
        entities.Add(201, "Eacute");
        entities.Add(202, "Ecirc");
        entities.Add(203, "Euml");
        entities.Add(204, "Igrave");
        entities.Add(205, "Iacute");
        entities.Add(206, "Icirc");
        entities.Add(207, "Iuml");
        entities.Add(208, "ETH");
        entities.Add(209, "Ntilde");
        entities.Add(210, "Ograve");
        entities.Add(211, "Oacute");
        entities.Add(212, "Ocirc");
        entities.Add(213, "Otilde");
        entities.Add(214, "Ouml");
        entities.Add(215, "times");
        entities.Add(216, "Oslash");
        entities.Add(217, "Ugrave");
        entities.Add(218, "Uacute");
        entities.Add(219, "Ucirc");
        entities.Add(220, "Uuml");
        entities.Add(221, "Yacute");
        entities.Add(222, "THORN");
        entities.Add(223, "szlig");
        entities.Add(224, "agrave");
        entities.Add(225, "aacute");
        entities.Add(226, "acirc");
        entities.Add(227, "atilde");
        entities.Add(228, "auml");
        entities.Add(229, "aring");
        entities.Add(230, "aelig");
        entities.Add(231, "ccedil");
        entities.Add(232, "egrave");
        entities.Add(233, "eacute");
        entities.Add(234, "ecirc");
        entities.Add(235, "euml");
        entities.Add(236, "igrave");
        entities.Add(237, "iacute");
        entities.Add(238, "icirc");
        entities.Add(239, "iuml");
        entities.Add(240, "eth");
        entities.Add(241, "ntilde");
        entities.Add(242, "ograve");
        entities.Add(243, "oacute");
        entities.Add(244, "ocirc");
        entities.Add(245, "otilde");
        entities.Add(246, "ouml");
        entities.Add(247, "divide");
        entities.Add(248, "oslash");
        entities.Add(249, "ugrave");
        entities.Add(250, "uacute");
        entities.Add(251, "ucirc");
        entities.Add(252, "uuml");
        entities.Add(253, "yacute");
        entities.Add(254, "thorn");
        entities.Add(255, "yuml");
        entities.Add(402, "fnof");
        entities.Add(913, "Alpha");
        entities.Add(914, "Beta");
        entities.Add(915, "Gamma");
        entities.Add(916, "Delta");
        entities.Add(917, "Epsilon");
        entities.Add(918, "Zeta");
        entities.Add(919, "Eta");
        entities.Add(920, "Theta");
        entities.Add(921, "Iota");
        entities.Add(922, "Kappa");
        entities.Add(923, "Lambda");
        entities.Add(924, "Mu");
        entities.Add(925, "Nu");
        entities.Add(926, "Xi");
        entities.Add(927, "Omicron");
        entities.Add(928, "Pi");
        entities.Add(929, "Rho");
        entities.Add(931, "Sigma");
        entities.Add(932, "Tau");
        entities.Add(933, "Upsilon");
        entities.Add(934, "Phi");
        entities.Add(935, "Chi");
        entities.Add(936, "Psi");
        entities.Add(937, "Omega");
        entities.Add(945, "alpha");
        entities.Add(946, "beta");
        entities.Add(947, "gamma");
        entities.Add(948, "delta");
        entities.Add(949, "epsilon");
        entities.Add(950, "zeta");
        entities.Add(951, "eta");
        entities.Add(952, "theta");
        entities.Add(953, "iota");
        entities.Add(954, "kappa");
        entities.Add(955, "lambda");
        entities.Add(956, "mu");
        entities.Add(957, "nu");
        entities.Add(958, "xi");
        entities.Add(959, "omicron");
        entities.Add(960, "pi");
        entities.Add(961, "rho");
        entities.Add(962, "sigmaf");
        entities.Add(963, "sigma");
        entities.Add(964, "tau");
        entities.Add(965, "upsilon");
        entities.Add(966, "phi");
        entities.Add(967, "chi");
        entities.Add(968, "psi");
        entities.Add(969, "omega");
        entities.Add(977, "thetasym");
        entities.Add(978, "upsih");
        entities.Add(982, "piv");
        entities.Add(8226, "bull");
        entities.Add(8230, "hellip");
        entities.Add(8242, "prime");
        entities.Add(8243, "Prime");
        entities.Add(8254, "oline");
        entities.Add(8260, "frasl");
        entities.Add(8472, "weierp");
        entities.Add(8465, "image");
        entities.Add(8476, "real");
        entities.Add(8482, "trade");
        entities.Add(8501, "alefsym");
        entities.Add(8592, "larr");
        entities.Add(8593, "uarr");
        entities.Add(8594, "rarr");
        entities.Add(8595, "darr");
        entities.Add(8596, "harr");
        entities.Add(8629, "crarr");
        entities.Add(8656, "lArr");
        entities.Add(8657, "uArr");
        entities.Add(8658, "rArr");
        entities.Add(8659, "dArr");
        entities.Add(8660, "hArr");
        entities.Add(8704, "forall");
        entities.Add(8706, "part");
        entities.Add(8707, "exist");
        entities.Add(8709, "empty");
        entities.Add(8711, "nabla");
        entities.Add(8712, "isin");
        entities.Add(8713, "notin");
        entities.Add(8715, "ni");
        entities.Add(8719, "prod");
        entities.Add(8721, "sum");
        entities.Add(8722, "minus");
        entities.Add(8727, "lowast");
        entities.Add(8730, "radic");
        entities.Add(8733, "prop");
        entities.Add(8734, "infin");
        entities.Add(8736, "ang");
        entities.Add(8743, "and");
        entities.Add(8744, "or");
        entities.Add(8745, "cap");
        entities.Add(8746, "cup");
        entities.Add(8747, "int");
        entities.Add(8756, "there4");
        entities.Add(8764, "sim");
        entities.Add(8773, "cong");
        entities.Add(8776, "asymp");
        entities.Add(8800, "ne");
        entities.Add(8801, "equiv");
        entities.Add(8804, "le");
        entities.Add(8805, "ge");
        entities.Add(8834, "sub");
        entities.Add(8835, "sup");
        entities.Add(8836, "nsub");
        entities.Add(8838, "sube");
        entities.Add(8839, "supe");
        entities.Add(8853, "oplus");
        entities.Add(8855, "otimes");
        entities.Add(8869, "perp");
        entities.Add(8901, "sdot");
        entities.Add(8968, "lceil");
        entities.Add(8969, "rceil");
        entities.Add(8970, "lfloor");
        entities.Add(8971, "rfloor");
        entities.Add(9001, "lang");
        entities.Add(9002, "rang");
        entities.Add(9674, "loz");
        entities.Add(9824, "spades");
        entities.Add(9827, "clubs");
        entities.Add(9829, "hearts");
        entities.Add(9830, "diams");
        entities.Add(34, "quot");
        entities.Add(38, "amp");
        entities.Add(60, "lt");
        entities.Add(62, "gt");
        entities.Add(338, "OElig");
        entities.Add(339, "oelig");
        entities.Add(352, "Scaron");
        entities.Add(353, "scaron");
        entities.Add(376, "Yuml");
        entities.Add(710, "circ");
        entities.Add(732, "tilde");
        entities.Add(8194, "ensp");
        entities.Add(8195, "emsp");
        entities.Add(8201, "thinsp");
        entities.Add(8204, "zwnj");
        entities.Add(8205, "zwj");
        entities.Add(8206, "lrm");
        entities.Add(8207, "rlm");
        entities.Add(8211, "ndash");
        entities.Add(8212, "mdash");
        entities.Add(8216, "lsquo");
        entities.Add(8217, "rsquo");
        entities.Add(8218, "sbquo");
        entities.Add(8220, "ldquo");
        entities.Add(8221, "rdquo");
        entities.Add(8222, "bdquo");
        entities.Add(8225, "dagger");
        entities.Add(8224, "Dagger");
        entities.Add(8240, "permil");
        entities.Add(8249, "lsaquo");
        entities.Add(8250, "rsaquo");
        entities.Add(8364, "euro");

        StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();

        foreach (var item in value)
        {
            var key = (int)item;

            if (entities.ContainsKey(key))
            {
                builder.Append('&');
                builder.Append(entities[key]);
                builder.Append(';');
            }
            else if (key >= 160)
            {
                builder.Append("&#");
                builder.Append(key.ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));
                builder.Append(';');
            }
            else builder.Append(item);
        }
        return builder.ToString();
    }

EDIT : seems you are using VB so here is the VB version :

Public Function EntitiesEncode(ByVal value As String) As String
    If String.IsNullOrEmpty(value) Then
        Return value
    End If

    Dim entities = New Dictionary(Of Integer, String)()
    entities.Add(160, "nbsp")
    entities.Add(161, "iexcl")
    entities.Add(162, "cent")
    entities.Add(163, "pound")
    entities.Add(164, "curren")
    entities.Add(165, "yen")
    entities.Add(166, "brvbar")
    entities.Add(167, "sect")
    entities.Add(168, "uml")
    entities.Add(169, "copy")
    entities.Add(170, "ordf")
    entities.Add(171, "laquo")
    entities.Add(172, "not")
    entities.Add(173, "shy")
    entities.Add(174, "reg")
    entities.Add(175, "macr")
    entities.Add(176, "deg")
    entities.Add(177, "plusmn")
    entities.Add(178, "sup2")
    entities.Add(179, "sup3")
    entities.Add(180, "acute")
    entities.Add(181, "micro")
    entities.Add(182, "para")
    entities.Add(183, "middot")
    entities.Add(184, "cedil")
    entities.Add(185, "sup1")
    entities.Add(186, "ordm")
    entities.Add(187, "raquo")
    entities.Add(188, "frac14")
    entities.Add(189, "frac12")
    entities.Add(190, "frac34")
    entities.Add(191, "iquest")
    entities.Add(192, "Agrave")
    entities.Add(193, "Aacute")
    entities.Add(194, "Acirc")
    entities.Add(195, "Atilde")
    entities.Add(196, "Auml")
    entities.Add(197, "Aring")
    entities.Add(198, "AElig")
    entities.Add(199, "Ccedil")
    entities.Add(200, "Egrave")
    entities.Add(201, "Eacute")
    entities.Add(202, "Ecirc")
    entities.Add(203, "Euml")
    entities.Add(204, "Igrave")
    entities.Add(205, "Iacute")
    entities.Add(206, "Icirc")
    entities.Add(207, "Iuml")
    entities.Add(208, "ETH")
    entities.Add(209, "Ntilde")
    entities.Add(210, "Ograve")
    entities.Add(211, "Oacute")
    entities.Add(212, "Ocirc")
    entities.Add(213, "Otilde")
    entities.Add(214, "Ouml")
    entities.Add(215, "times")
    entities.Add(216, "Oslash")
    entities.Add(217, "Ugrave")
    entities.Add(218, "Uacute")
    entities.Add(219, "Ucirc")
    entities.Add(220, "Uuml")
    entities.Add(221, "Yacute")
    entities.Add(222, "THORN")
    entities.Add(223, "szlig")
    entities.Add(224, "agrave")
    entities.Add(225, "aacute")
    entities.Add(226, "acirc")
    entities.Add(227, "atilde")
    entities.Add(228, "auml")
    entities.Add(229, "aring")
    entities.Add(230, "aelig")
    entities.Add(231, "ccedil")
    entities.Add(232, "egrave")
    entities.Add(233, "eacute")
    entities.Add(234, "ecirc")
    entities.Add(235, "euml")
    entities.Add(236, "igrave")
    entities.Add(237, "iacute")
    entities.Add(238, "icirc")
    entities.Add(239, "iuml")
    entities.Add(240, "eth")
    entities.Add(241, "ntilde")
    entities.Add(242, "ograve")
    entities.Add(243, "oacute")
    entities.Add(244, "ocirc")
    entities.Add(245, "otilde")
    entities.Add(246, "ouml")
    entities.Add(247, "divide")
    entities.Add(248, "oslash")
    entities.Add(249, "ugrave")
    entities.Add(250, "uacute")
    entities.Add(251, "ucirc")
    entities.Add(252, "uuml")
    entities.Add(253, "yacute")
    entities.Add(254, "thorn")
    entities.Add(255, "yuml")
    entities.Add(402, "fnof")
    entities.Add(913, "Alpha")
    entities.Add(914, "Beta")
    entities.Add(915, "Gamma")
    entities.Add(916, "Delta")
    entities.Add(917, "Epsilon")
    entities.Add(918, "Zeta")
    entities.Add(919, "Eta")
    entities.Add(920, "Theta")
    entities.Add(921, "Iota")
    entities.Add(922, "Kappa")
    entities.Add(923, "Lambda")
    entities.Add(924, "Mu")
    entities.Add(925, "Nu")
    entities.Add(926, "Xi")
    entities.Add(927, "Omicron")
    entities.Add(928, "Pi")
    entities.Add(929, "Rho")
    entities.Add(931, "Sigma")
    entities.Add(932, "Tau")
    entities.Add(933, "Upsilon")
    entities.Add(934, "Phi")
    entities.Add(935, "Chi")
    entities.Add(936, "Psi")
    entities.Add(937, "Omega")
    entities.Add(945, "alpha")
    entities.Add(946, "beta")
    entities.Add(947, "gamma")
    entities.Add(948, "delta")
    entities.Add(949, "epsilon")
    entities.Add(950, "zeta")
    entities.Add(951, "eta")
    entities.Add(952, "theta")
    entities.Add(953, "iota")
    entities.Add(954, "kappa")
    entities.Add(955, "lambda")
    entities.Add(956, "mu")
    entities.Add(957, "nu")
    entities.Add(958, "xi")
    entities.Add(959, "omicron")
    entities.Add(960, "pi")
    entities.Add(961, "rho")
    entities.Add(962, "sigmaf")
    entities.Add(963, "sigma")
    entities.Add(964, "tau")
    entities.Add(965, "upsilon")
    entities.Add(966, "phi")
    entities.Add(967, "chi")
    entities.Add(968, "psi")
    entities.Add(969, "omega")
    entities.Add(977, "thetasym")
    entities.Add(978, "upsih")
    entities.Add(982, "piv")
    entities.Add(8226, "bull")
    entities.Add(8230, "hellip")
    entities.Add(8242, "prime")
    entities.Add(8243, "Prime")
    entities.Add(8254, "oline")
    entities.Add(8260, "frasl")
    entities.Add(8472, "weierp")
    entities.Add(8465, "image")
    entities.Add(8476, "real")
    entities.Add(8482, "trade")
    entities.Add(8501, "alefsym")
    entities.Add(8592, "larr")
    entities.Add(8593, "uarr")
    entities.Add(8594, "rarr")
    entities.Add(8595, "darr")
    entities.Add(8596, "harr")
    entities.Add(8629, "crarr")
    entities.Add(8656, "lArr")
    entities.Add(8657, "uArr")
    entities.Add(8658, "rArr")
    entities.Add(8659, "dArr")
    entities.Add(8660, "hArr")
    entities.Add(8704, "forall")
    entities.Add(8706, "part")
    entities.Add(8707, "exist")
    entities.Add(8709, "empty")
    entities.Add(8711, "nabla")
    entities.Add(8712, "isin")
    entities.Add(8713, "notin")
    entities.Add(8715, "ni")
    entities.Add(8719, "prod")
    entities.Add(8721, "sum")
    entities.Add(8722, "minus")
    entities.Add(8727, "lowast")
    entities.Add(8730, "radic")
    entities.Add(8733, "prop")
    entities.Add(8734, "infin")
    entities.Add(8736, "ang")
    entities.Add(8743, "and")
    entities.Add(8744, "or")
    entities.Add(8745, "cap")
    entities.Add(8746, "cup")
    entities.Add(8747, "int")
    entities.Add(8756, "there4")
    entities.Add(8764, "sim")
    entities.Add(8773, "cong")
    entities.Add(8776, "asymp")
    entities.Add(8800, "ne")
    entities.Add(8801, "equiv")
    entities.Add(8804, "le")
    entities.Add(8805, "ge")
    entities.Add(8834, "sub")
    entities.Add(8835, "sup")
    entities.Add(8836, "nsub")
    entities.Add(8838, "sube")
    entities.Add(8839, "supe")
    entities.Add(8853, "oplus")
    entities.Add(8855, "otimes")
    entities.Add(8869, "perp")
    entities.Add(8901, "sdot")
    entities.Add(8968, "lceil")
    entities.Add(8969, "rceil")
    entities.Add(8970, "lfloor")
    entities.Add(8971, "rfloor")
    entities.Add(9001, "lang")
    entities.Add(9002, "rang")
    entities.Add(9674, "loz")
    entities.Add(9824, "spades")
    entities.Add(9827, "clubs")
    entities.Add(9829, "hearts")
    entities.Add(9830, "diams")
    entities.Add(34, "quot")
    entities.Add(38, "amp")
    entities.Add(60, "lt")
    entities.Add(62, "gt")
    entities.Add(338, "OElig")
    entities.Add(339, "oelig")
    entities.Add(352, "Scaron")
    entities.Add(353, "scaron")
    entities.Add(376, "Yuml")
    entities.Add(710, "circ")
    entities.Add(732, "tilde")
    entities.Add(8194, "ensp")
    entities.Add(8195, "emsp")
    entities.Add(8201, "thinsp")
    entities.Add(8204, "zwnj")
    entities.Add(8205, "zwj")
    entities.Add(8206, "lrm")
    entities.Add(8207, "rlm")
    entities.Add(8211, "ndash")
    entities.Add(8212, "mdash")
    entities.Add(8216, "lsquo")
    entities.Add(8217, "rsquo")
    entities.Add(8218, "sbquo")
    entities.Add(8220, "ldquo")
    entities.Add(8221, "rdquo")
    entities.Add(8222, "bdquo")
    entities.Add(8225, "dagger")
    entities.Add(8224, "Dagger")
    entities.Add(8240, "permil")
    entities.Add(8249, "lsaquo")
    entities.Add(8250, "rsaquo")
    entities.Add(8364, "euro")

    Dim builder As New StringBuilder()

    For Each item In value
        Dim key = AscW(item)

        If entities.ContainsKey(key) Then
            builder.Append("&"c)
            builder.Append(entities(key))
            builder.Append(";"c)
        ElseIf key >= 160 Then
            builder.Append("&#")
            builder.Append(key.ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture))
            builder.Append(";"c)
        Else
            builder.Append(item)
        End If
    Next
    Return builder.ToString()
End Function