# 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 &amp; (applies to `html` and `htmlall` only) | ## Examples ```php 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' {$articleTitle|escape} 'Stiff Opposition Expected to Casketless Funeral Plan' {$articleTitle|escape:'html'} {* escapes & " ' < > *} 'Stiff Opposition Expected to Casketless Funeral Plan' {$articleTitle|escape:'htmlall'} {* escapes ALL html entities *} 'Stiff Opposition Expected to Casketless Funeral Plan' click here click here {$articleTitle|escape:'quotes'} \'Stiff Opposition Expected to Casketless Funeral Plan\' {$EmailAddress|escape:"hexentity"} {$EmailAddress|escape:'mail'} {* this converts to email to text *} bob..snip..et {'mail@example.com'|escape:'mail'} smarty [AT] example [DOT] com {* the "rewind" parameter registers the current location *} click here ``` This snippet is useful for emails, but see also [`{mailto}`](../language-custom-functions/language-function-mailto.md) ```smarty {* email address mangled *} {$EmailAddress|escape:'mail'} ``` 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.