Python - Convert HTML Characters To Strings

Converting HTML characters to strings is a process of decoding HTML entities like < into their respective characters, such as <. This is essential for making encoded HTML content readable in plain text. In this article, we will explore efficient methods to convert HTML characters to strings in Python .

Using html.unescape()

html module provides the unescape() function, which is useful for converting HTML entities back into normal text. This method works well for converting HTML-encoded strings into their original form.

# import html 
import html 
  
# Create Text 
text = 'Γeeks for Γeeks'
  
# It Converts given text To String 
print(html.unescape(text))  
  
# It Converts given text to HTML Entities  
print(html.escape(text))  

Output:

Γeeks for Γeeks
Γeeks for Γeeks

Explanation:

• html.unescape() converts the HTML entities like Γ back into their respective characters like Γ.
• html.escape() converts special characters in a string such as Γ into HTML entities Γ.

Using BeautifulSoup

When we're working with web data and need to decode HTML entities automatically, BeautifulSoup is an excellent choice. It handles entity conversion seamlessly, making it a popular choice for parsing HTML content.

from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

# Sample HTML string
s = "Hello <b>World</b>!"

# Parse the HTML string using BeautifulSoup
soup = BeautifulSoup(s, "html.parser")

# Convert HTML entities to plain text
res = soup.get_text()
print(res)

Output:

Hello <b>World</b>!

Explanation:

• Import BeautifulSoup library is used to parse and manipulate HTML or XML content.
• Parse HTML: The string s is passed to BeautifulSoup with the parser "html.parser", which decodes the HTML.
• get_text() method extracts and decodes the HTML entities into plain text.