Question

I have entries in a mysql database that have htmlentities, so, e.g., &ouml instead of ö.

Now I realized that for the next things I have to do with that database, I will have to get rid of all htmlentities and transform them into their according characters, e.g. &ouml will have to become ö.

Of course, I could do that in php and write a script that loops through different columns and writes back the decoded strings.

But I am wondering if there is a way to do it directly in mysql with a single update statement, ideally even for all columns?

Answer 1

The best way would be to use PHP. While @Chris ‘ solution would work, it would require too much work for someone that should be run once.

Using PHP in conjunction with transactions and prepared statements can do the job just fine.