# escape

`escape` is used to encode or escape a variable to `html`, `url`,
`single quotes`, `hex`, `hexentity`, `javascript` and `mail`. By default
its `html`.

## Basic usage
```smarty
{$myVar|escape}
```

## Parameters

| Parameter Position | Type    | Required | Possible Values                                                                                                | Default | Description                                                                          |
|--------------------|---------|----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1                  | string  | No       | `html`, `htmlall`, `url`, `urlpathinfo`, `quotes`, `hex`, `hexentity`, `javascript`, `mail`                    | `html`  | This is the escape format to use.                                                    |
| 2                  | string  | No       | `ISO-8859-1`, `UTF-8`, and any character set supported by [`htmlentities()`](https://www.php.net/htmlentities) | `UTF-8` | The character set encoding passed to htmlentities() et. al.                          |
| 3                  | boolean | No       | FALSE                                                                                                          | TRUE    | Double encode entities from & to & (applies to `html` and `htmlall` only) |


## Examples

```php
<?php

$smarty->assign('articleTitle',
                "'Stiff Opposition Expected to Casketless Funeral Plan'"
                );
$smarty->assign('EmailAddress','smarty@example.com');

```
       

These are example `escape` template lines followed by the output

```smarty
{$articleTitle}
'Stiff Opposition Expected to Casketless Funeral Plan'

{$articleTitle|escape}
&#039;Stiff Opposition Expected to Casketless Funeral Plan&#039;

{$articleTitle|escape:'html'}    {* escapes  & " ' < > *}
&#039;Stiff Opposition Expected to Casketless Funeral Plan&#039;

{$articleTitle|escape:'htmlall'} {* escapes ALL html entities *}
&#039;Stiff Opposition Expected to Casketless Funeral Plan&#039;

<a href="?title={$articleTitle|escape:'url'}">click here</a>
<a
href="?title=%27Stiff%20Opposition%20Expected%20to%20Casketless%20Funeral%20Plan%27">click here</a>

{$articleTitle|escape:'quotes'}
\'Stiff Opposition Expected to Casketless Funeral Plan\'

<a href="mailto:{$EmailAddress|escape:"hex"}">{$EmailAddress|escape:"hexentity"}</a>
{$EmailAddress|escape:'mail'}    {* this converts to email to text *}
<a href="mailto:%62%6f%..snip..%65%74">&#x62;&#x6f;&#x62..snip..&#x65;&#x74;</a>

{'mail@example.com'|escape:'mail'}
smarty [AT] example [DOT] com

{* the "rewind" parameter registers the current location *}
<a href="$my_path?page=foo&rewind={$my_uri|escape:url}">click here</a>

```

This snippet is useful for emails, but see also
[`{mailto}`](../language-custom-functions/language-function-mailto.md)

```smarty
{* email address mangled *}
<a href="mailto:{$EmailAddress|escape:'hex'}">{$EmailAddress|escape:'mail'}</a>
```

See also [escaping smarty parsing](../language-basic-syntax/language-escaping.md),
[`{mailto}`](../language-custom-functions/language-function-mailto.md) and the [obfuscating email
addresses](../../appendixes/tips.md#obfuscating-e-mail-addresses) page.