gistfile1.js

function mgDecodeHTMLEntities(str)
{
    //substitutes html numeric entities with the corresponding unicode character in one pass

     var currPos = 0;
    var d = str;
    
    var finalStr = '';
    while (true)
    {
        var start = d.indexOf('&#', currPos);
        if (start == -1)
            break;
        var end = d.indexOf(';', start);
        if (end == -1)
            break;
        var expr = d.substr(start + 2, end - start - 2);
        
        //handle hexadecimal values
        if (expr.substr(0, 1) == 'x')
        {
            expr = parseInt(expr.substr(1), 16);
        }
        else
        {
            expr = parseInt(expr);
        }
        
        if(expr >= -32768 && expr <= 65535)
        {
            expr = String.fromCharCode(expr);
        }
        else
        {
            expr = ''; 
        }

        finalStr = finalStr + d.substr(currPos, start - currPos) + expr;
        currPos = end + 1;
    }
    finalStr = finalStr + d.substr(currPos);
    return finalStr;
}