HTML encoding makes sure that text is displayed correctly in the browser and not interpreted by the browser as HTML. For example, if a text string contains a less than sign (<) or greater than sign (>), the browser would interpret these characters as the opening or closing bracket of an HTML tag. When the characters are HTML encoded, they are converted to the strings &lt; and &gt;, which causes the browser to display the less than sign and greater than sign correctly. HttpServerUtility.HtmlDecode(string) decodes text that has been transmitted to the server.

This method is a convenient way to access the erload:System.Web.HttpUtility.HtmlDecode method at run time from an ASP.NET application. Internally, this method uses erload:System.Web.HttpUtility.HtmlDecode to decode strings.

In the code-behind file for an ASP.NET web page, access an instance of the System.Web.HttpServerUtility class through the Server property. In a class that is not in a code-behind file, use HttpContext.Current.Server to access an instance of the System.Web.HttpServerUtility class.

Outside of a web application, use the System.Net.WebUtility class to encode or decode values.

Namespace: System.Web
Assembly: System.Web (in System.Web.dll)
Assembly Versions: 1.0.5000.0, 2.0.0.0