Note:
escape()
is a non-standard function implemented by browsers and was only standardized for cross-engine compatibility. It is not required to be implemented by all JavaScript engines and may not work everywhere. Use encodeURIComponent() or encodeURI() if possible.
The escape()
function computes a new string in which certain characters have been replaced by hexadecimal escape sequences.
Syntax
escape(str)
Parameters
str
- : A string to be encoded.
Return value
A new string in which certain characters have been escaped.
Description
escape()
is a function property of the global object.
The escape()
function replaces all characters with escape sequences, with the exception of
word characters (A–Z, a–z, 0–9, _) and @\*_+-./
. Characters are escaped by UTF-16 code units. If the code unit's value is less than 256, it is represented by a two-digit hexadecimal number in the format %XX
, left-padded with 0 if necessary. Otherwise, it is represented by a four-digit hexadecimal number in the format %uXXXX
, left-padded with 0 if necessary.
Note: This function was used mostly for URL encoding and is partly based on the escape format in . The escape format is not an escape sequence in string literals. You can replace
%XX
with\xXX
and%uXXXX
with\uXXXX
to get a string containing actual string-literal escape sequences.
Examples
Using escape()
escape("abc123"); // "abc123"
escape("äöü"); // "%E4%F6%FC"
escape("ć"); // "%u0107"
// special characters
escape("@*_+-./"); // "@*_+-./"