Encodes a text string using URL, Unicode, XML, HTML, Base64, HEX, or Octal methods.
URL (Percent Encoding)
This encoding is used to ensure that a string is valid for inclusion in a URL. All characters that are not a letter, digit, dash, period, underscore or tilde will be encoded. The TextEncoder converts a plain text string, such as black & white into its encoded form black%20%26%20white.
Unicode
Non-ASCII characters are encoded in an ASCII string. All characters with standard ASCII representations are not encoded. The TextEncoder encodes in any of these representations:
- Surrogate Pairs: Any code point in the range U+0000 to U+FFFF encodes as \uXXXX. For code points greater, the encoding takes the form of a surrogate pair \uXXXX\uXXXX according to the UTF-16 encoding scheme.
- ECMAScript 6: All code points encode as \{XX...X}, where there may be 4-6 hexadecimal digits contained within the braces. This is the Unicode escape sequence convention according to ECMAScript 6.
- ECMAScript 6 (Large Code Points Only): Any code point in the range U+0000 to U+FFFF encodes as \uXXXX. All code points outside of this range encode as \{XX...X}.
- Python: Any code point in the range U+0000 to U+FFFF encodes as \uXXXX, and any code point greater encodes as \UXXXXXXXX. This is the Python convention.
XML
| Character | Encoded Value |
|---|---|
| < | < |
| > | > |
| " | " |
| & | & |
| ' | ' |
In addition, the XML encoding allows for any character to be represented using the decimal or hexadecimal representation of its Unicode code point. The TextEncoder will convert a text string, such as black & white into its XML representation, black & white.
HTML
This encoding is an extension of the XML encoding. The HTML encoding includes many characters which cannot be represented using a simple Latin character set, such as ♪, ± or ∞. The TextEncoder will convert a text string, such as this ± that into its HTML representation, this &plusm; that.
Base64
Base64 encoding is a method of storing arbitrary data as an ASCII string. When this method is selected, the TextEncoder will convert a UTF-8 text string into a string of ASCII characters. Note that attributes will be converted to UTF-8 before they are encoded to Base64. If this is undesirable, consider using the BinaryEncoder, as it will not change the character encoding of attribute values
HEX
HEX encoding is another method used to store arbitrary data as an ASCII string. HEX encoded data is not as compact as Base64 encoded data. When this method is selected, the TextEncoder will convert a UTF-8 text string into a string of ASCII characters. Note that attributes will be converted to UTF-8 before they are HEX encoded. If this is undesirable, consider using the BinaryEncoder, as it will not change the character encoding of attribute values.
Octal
Octal encoding is another method used to store arbitrary data as an ASCII string. Octal encoded data is not as compact as HEX or Base64 encoded data. Each byte of data is represented by 3 encoded characters. When this method is selected, the TextEncoder will convert a UTF-8 text string into a string of ASCII characters. Note that attributes will be converted to UTF-8 before they are Octal encoded. If this is undesirable, consider using the BinaryEncoder, as it will not change the character encoding of attribute values.
Parameters
Encoding Type
Identifies the method the transformer will use to encode the attribute.
String to Encode
The value of this attribute will be encoded using the selected method.
Destination Attribute
This attribute will store the encoded data.
Editing Transformer Parameters
Using a set of menu options, transformer parameters can be assigned by referencing other elements in the workspace. More advanced functions, such as an advanced editor and an arithmetic editor, are also available in some transformers. To access a menu of these options, click 
beside the applicable parameter. For more information, see Transformer Parameter Menu Options.
Transformer Categories
Transformer History
Selecting URL as the Encoding Type replaces the URLEncoder transformer, which is now deprecated.
Technical History
Associated FME function or factory: TextEncoderFactory
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Tags Keywords: URLEncoder decode encode