[Webkit-unassigned] [Bug 20233] New: Please expose an API to convert to/from Named Entities

[bugzilla-daemon at webkit.org]

https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=20233

           Summary: Please expose an API to convert to/from Named Entities
           Product: WebKit
           Version: 526+ (Nightly build)
          Platform: Macintosh
        OS/Version: Mac OS X 10.5
            Status: NEW
          Severity: Normal
          Priority: P2
         Component: WebKit API
        AssignedTo: webkit-unassigned at lists.webkit.org
        ReportedBy: dwood at karelia.com


There are a hundred or two "named entities" which are legitimate ways to encode
characters in HTML.  For instance, € is a euro sign, Ç is a capital
C with a cedilla, etc.

Many programs - e.g. Sandvox (my App) from Karelia, Code from Panic,
UnicodeChecker from Panic, Flow from Extendamac, and application(s) from
Connected Flow and Toxic Software, just to name a few that I was able to find,
have a need to convert named entities to the actual Unicode character values. 
Each of these applications has had to roll their own "homemade" solutions to
this, which usually means building up a big data structure.

Oh of course, WebKit needs to do this too, and it has code in there to parse
entities; see "HTMLEntityNames.gperf" for example.

It would be greatly beneficial to third-party applications if WebKit could
expose an API to convert from an entity into its corresponding Unicode
equivalent.  That way, applications could just use the function provided by the
Operating System (in WebKit) rather than having to invent their own bulky
solution.

(If you don't think this is a great need, please note again the list of
shipping software that has had a need to do this.) 

The data and the functionality are *already* in webkit; this is just a request
to expose this for use by other applications.


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