php - Display \u1F603 (emoji icon) in web page -

i store codes "\u1f603" within messages in database, , need display corresponding emoji on web page.

how can convert \u1f603 \xf0\x9f\x98\x83 using php displaying emoji icons in web page?

you don't need convert emoji character codes utf-8 sequences, can use original 21-bit unicode value numeric character reference in html this: 😃 renders as: 😃.

the wikipedia article "unicode , html" explains:

in order work around limitations of legacy encodings, html designed such possible represent characters whole of unicode inside html document using numeric character reference: sequence of characters explicitly spell out unicode code point of character being represented. character reference takes form &#n;, n either decimal number unicode code point, or hexadecimal number, in case must prefixed x. characters compose numeric character reference universally representable in every encoding approved use on internet.

for example, unicode code point u+5408, corresponds particular chinese character, has converted decimal number, preceded &# , followed ;, this: 合, produces this: 合.

so if in php code have string containing '\u1f603', can create corresponding html string using preg_replace, in following example:

$text = "this fun \\u1f603!"; // has 1 backslash, had escaped  echo "database has: $text<br>"; $html = preg_replace("/\\\\u([0-9a-f]{2,5})/i", "&#x$1;", $text); echo "browser shows: $html<br>"; 

this outputs:

database has: fun \u1f603!
browser shows: fun 😃!

note if in data use literal \u notation lower range unicode characters, i.e. hex numbers of 2 4 digits, must make sure next user's character not hex digit, lead wrong interpretation of \u escape sequence stops. in case suggest left-pad these hex numbers zeroes in data 5 digits long.

to ensure browser uses correct character encoding, following:

1. specify utf-8 character encoding in html head section:
   <meta charset="utf-8">
2. save php file in utf-8 encoding. depending on editor, may need use "save as" option, or find such setting in editor's "preferences" or "options" menu.