Named and Numeric Character Entities

Browsers ignore the charset police. So ¡℘ƒϑϒ! on them!

The charset police keep saying we should never use named entities, always use numeric entities. Baloney. As we can see below, both work, and they work in all 4 browsers, with a myriad of fonts and charset settings.

They also say, “The entire range from 129 through 159 are invalid characters, and consequently should not be used.” Baloney! I put them in the table below just see where they do and do not work, and tested in four browsers with Unicode and legacy fonts, and with several charset settings. I could not find a font, lang, or charset where 130-159 would not render. So ¡℘ƒϑϒ! on the charset police!

Test parameters: I tested these in IE7, Chrome1, FireFox3, and Opera9.5, on XP-Pro-SR3-IIS5.1. The list boxes poke your selections into the page head’s meta tags and CSS.

Note: If you select a font you don’t have, you get your browser default, which is usually Times New Roman.

I did find a few a few little surprises:

Some chars in the 8000-series do not work in IE unless a Unicode font is selected. But they all do work in Chrome, FireFox, and Opera, with every font I could test.
IE and Chrome will not display 9001 or 9002, but Firefox and Opera will.
At least for the characters in the table, setting lang and charset to anything and everything, including “bogus”, made no difference at all! Even picking a Unicode font and a charset of us-ascii didn’t stop them from rendering properly!
All the used (i.e., not marked as unused) characters in the “invalid” 129-159 range work in all fonts, all charsets, all langs, in all four browsers. So ¡℘ƒϑϒ! on the charset police again!
Selecting any of the W3C-defined generics (serif, sans-serif, monospace, western, and fantasy) only works in IE! The other three completely ignored them and used the browser default. Except that Opera will obey monospace. So ¡℘ƒϑϒ! on generics fallbacks!
You can set font to almost anything, then set charset=bogus, lang=bogus, language name=bogus, and content-language=bogus, and FireFox and Opera will render every named and numbered HTML entity, plus the “invalid” 129-159 range. Chrome will omit only 9001-9002. IE7 will omit those and 35 others in the 8000-series. So ¡℘ƒϑϒ! on lang and charset meta tags!

Conclusion: Just use the named entities and forget all the numbers. And don’t waste as much time as I have over the years worrying about what’s the “proper” charset and encoding to use.

Current settings: font: verdana lang: en charset: iso-8859-1

No.	Num.	Named	Nam.	Description
34	"	quot	"	quotation mark = APL quote
38	&	amp	&	ampersand
60	<	lt	<	less-than sign
62	>	gt	>	greater-than sign
Invalid: never use’um! (so they say)
129		unused		Unused
130	‚	sbquo	‚	baseline single quote
131	ƒ	fnof	ƒ	florin
132	„	bdquo	„	baseline double quote
133	…	hellip	…	ellipsis
134	†	dagger	†	dagger (single)
135	‡	Dagger	‡	Dagger (double)
136	ˆ	circ	ˆ	circumflex
137	‰	permil	‰	per mille
138	Š	Scaron	š	S caron
139	‹	lsaquo	‹	left single guillemet
140	Œ	OElig	Œ	OE ligature
141		x		Unused
142	Ž	-	–	Z caron (numeric only)
143		x		unused
144		x		unused
145	‘	lsquo	‘	left single quote
146	’	rsquo	’	right single quote
147	“	ldquo	“	left double quote
148	”	rdquo	”	right double quote
149	•	bull	•	bullet (large)
150	–	ndash	–	en dash
151	—	mdash	—	em dash
152	˜	tilde	˜	tilde
153	™	trade	™	trademark
154	š	scaron	š	s caron
155	›	rsaquo	›	right single guillemet
156	œ	oelig	œ	oe ligature
157		x		unused
158	ž	-		z caron (numeric only)
159	Ÿ	Yuml	Ÿ	Y diaeresis
(end of “forbidden” range)
160		nbsp		no-break space = non-breaking space
161	¡	iexcl	¡	inverted exclamation mark
162	¢	cent	¢	cent sign
163	£	pound	£	pound sign
164	¤	curren	¤	currency sign
165	¥	yen	¥	yen sign = yuan sign
166	¦	brvbar	¦	broken bar = broken vertical bar
167	§	sect	§	section sign
168	¨	uml	¨	diaeresis = spacing diaeresis
169	©	copy	©	copyright sign
170	ª	ordf	ª	feminine ordinal indicator
171	«	laquo	«	left-pointing double angle quotation mark = left pointing guillemet
172	¬	not	¬	not sign
173		shy		soft hyphen = discretionary hyphen
174	®	reg	®	registered sign = registered trade mark sign
175	¯	macr	¯	macron = spacing macron = overline = APL overbar
176	°	deg	°	degree sign
177	±	plusmn	±	plus-minus sign = plus-or-minus sign
178	²	sup2	²	superscript two = superscript digit two = squared
179	³	sup3	³	superscript three = superscript digit three = cubed
180	´	acute	´	acute accent = spacing acute
181	µ	micro	µ	micro sign
182	¶	para	¶	pilcrow sign = paragraph sign
183	·	middot	·	middle dot = Georgian comma = Greek middle dot
184	¸	cedil	¸	cedilla = spacing cedilla
185	¹	sup1	¹	superscript one = superscript digit one
186	º	ordm	º	masculine ordinal indicator
187	»	raquo	»	right-pointing double angle quotation mark = right guillemet
188	¼	frac14	¼	vulgar fraction one quarter = fraction one quarter
189	½	frac12	½	vulgar fraction one half = fraction one half
190	¾	frac34	¾	vulgar fraction three quarters = fraction three quarters
191	¿	iquest	¿	inverted question mark = turned question mark
192	À	Agrave	À	latin capital A with grave = latin capital A grave
193	Á	Aacute	Á	latin capital A with acute
194	Â	Acirc	Â	latin capital A with circumflex
195	Ã	Atilde	Ã	latin capital A with tilde
196	Ä	Auml	Ä	latin capital A with diaeresis
197	Å	Aring	Å	latin capital A with ring above = latin capital A ring
198	Æ	AElig	Æ	latin capital AE = latin capital ligature AE
199	Ç	Ccedil	Ç	latin capital C with cedilla
200	È	Egrave	È	latin capital E with grave
201	É	Eacute	É	latin capital E with acute
202	Ê	Ecirc	Ê	latin capital E with circumflex
203	Ë	Euml	Ë	latin capital E with diaeresis
204	Ì	Igrave	Ì	latin capital I with grave
205	Í	Iacute	Í	latin capital I with acute
206	Î	Icirc	Î	latin capital I with circumflex
207	Ï	Iuml	Ï	latin capital I with diaeresis
208	Ð	ETH	Ð	latin capital ETH
209	Ñ	Ntilde	Ñ	latin capital N with tilde
210	Ò	Ograve	Ò	latin capital O with grave
211	Ó	Oacute	Ó	latin capital O with acute
212	Ô	Ocirc	Ô	latin capital O with circumflex
213	Õ	Otilde	Õ	latin capital O with tilde
214	Ö	Ouml	Ö	latin capital O with diaeresis
215	×	times	×	multiplication sign
216	Ø	Oslash	Ø	latin capital O with stroke = latin capital O slash
217	Ù	Ugrave	Ù	latin capital U with grave
218	Ú	Uacute	Ú	latin capital U with acute
219	Û	Ucirc	Û	latin capital U with circumflex
220	Ü	Uuml	Ü	latin capital U with diaeresis
221	Ý	Yacute	Ý	latin capital Y with acute
222	Þ	THORN	Þ	latin capital THORN
223	ß	szlig	ß	latin small sharp s = ess-zed
224	à	agrave	à	latin small a with grave = latin small a grave
225	á	aacute	á	latin small a with acute
226	â	acirc	â	latin small a with circumflex
227	ã	atilde	ã	latin small a with tilde
228	ä	auml	ä	latin small a with diaeresis
229	å	aring	å	latin small a with ring above = latin small a ring
230	æ	aelig	æ	latin small ae = latin small ligature ae
231	ç	ccedil	ç	latin small c with cedilla
232	è	egrave	è	latin small e with grave
233	é	eacute	é	latin small e with acute
234	ê	ecirc	ê	latin small e with circumflex
235	ë	euml	ë	latin small e with diaeresis
236	ì	igrave	ì	latin small i with grave
237	í	iacute	í	latin small i with acute
238	î	icirc	î	latin small i with circumflex
239	ï	iuml	ï	latin small i with diaeresis
240	ð	eth	ð	latin small eth
241	ñ	ntilde	ñ	latin small n with tilde
242	ò	ograve	ò	latin small o with grave
243	ó	oacute	ó	latin small o with acute
244	ô	ocirc	ô	latin small o with circumflex
245	õ	otilde	õ	latin small o with tilde
246	ö	ouml	ö	latin small o with diaeresis
247	÷	divide	÷	division sign
248	ø	oslash	ø	latin small o with stroke, = latin small o slash
249	ù	ugrave	ù	latin small u with grave
250	ú	uacute	ú	latin small u with acute
251	û	ucirc	û	latin small u with circumflex
252	ü	uuml	ü	latin small u with diaeresis
253	ý	yacute	ý	latin small y with acute
254	þ	thorn	þ	latin small thorn with
255	ÿ	yuml	ÿ	latin small y with diaeresis
338	Œ	OElig	Œ	latin capital ligature OE
339	œ	oelig	œ	latin small ligature oe
352	Š	Scaron	Š	latin capital S with caron
353	š	scaron	š	latin small s with caron
376	Ÿ	Yuml	Ÿ	latin capital Y with diaeresis
402	ƒ	fnof	ƒ	latin small f with hook = function = florin
710	ˆ	circ	ˆ	modifier letter circumflex accent
732	˜	tilde	˜	small tilde
913	Α	Alpha	Α	greek capital alpha
914	Β	Beta	Β	greek capital beta
915	Γ	Gamma	Γ	greek capital gamma
916	Δ	Delta	Δ	greek capital delta
917	Ε	Epsilon	Ε	greek capital epsilon
918	Ζ	Zeta	Ζ	greek capital zeta
919	Η	Eta	Η	greek capital eta
920	Θ	Theta	Θ	greek capital theta
921	Ι	Iota	Ι	greek capital iota
922	Κ	Kappa	Κ	greek capital kappa
923	Λ	Lambda	Λ	greek capital lambda
924	Μ	Mu	Μ	greek capital mu
925	Ν	Nu	Ν	greek capital nu
926	Ξ	Xi	Ξ	greek capital xi
927	Ο	Omicron	Ο	greek capital omicron
928	Π	Pi	Π	greek capital pi
929	Ρ	Rho	Ρ	greek capital rho
931	Σ	Sigma	Σ	greek capital sigma
932	Τ	Tau	Τ	greek capital tau
933	Υ	Upsilon	Υ	greek capital upsilon
934	Φ	Phi	Φ	greek capital phi
935	Χ	Chi	Χ	greek capital chi
936	Ψ	Psi	Ψ	greek capital psi
937	Ω	Omega	Ω	greek capital omega
945	α	alpha	α	greek small alpha
946	β	beta	β	greek small beta
947	γ	gamma	γ	greek small gamma
948	δ	delta	δ	greek small delta
949	ε	epsilon	ε	greek small epsilon
950	ζ	zeta	ζ	greek small zeta
951	η	eta	η	greek small eta
952	θ	theta	θ	greek small theta
953	ι	iota	ι	greek small iota
954	κ	kappa	κ	greek small kappa
955	λ	lambda	λ	greek small lambda
956	μ	mu	μ	greek small mu
957	ν	nu	ν	greek small nu
958	ξ	xi	ξ	greek small xi
959	ο	omicron	ο	greek small omicron
960	π	pi	π	greek small pi
961	ρ	rho	ρ	greek small rho
962	ς	sigmaf	ς	greek small final sigma
963	σ	sigma	σ	greek small sigma
964	τ	tau	τ	greek small tau
965	υ	upsilon	υ	greek small upsilon
966	φ	phi	φ	greek small phi
967	χ	chi	χ	greek small chi
968	ψ	psi	ψ	greek small psi
969	ω	omega	ω	greek small omega
977	ϑ	thetasym	ϑ	greek small theta symbol
978	ϒ	upsih	ϒ	greek upsilon with hook symbol
982	ϖ	piv	ϖ	greek pi symbol
8194		ensp		en space [inverse (drag-select) these spaces to see them.]
8195		emsp		em space
8201		thinsp		thin space
8204	‌	zwnj	‌	zero width non-joiner
8205	‍	zwj	‍	zero width joiner
8206	‎	lrm	‎	left-to-right mark
8207	‏	rlm	‏	right-to-left mark
8211	–	ndash	–	en dash
8212	—	mdash	—	em dash
8216	‘	lsquo	‘	left single quotation mark
8217	’	rsquo	’	right single quotation mark
8218	‚	sbquo	‚	single low-9 quotation mark
8220	“	ldquo	“	left double quotation mark
8221	”	rdquo	”	right double quotation mark
8222	„	bdquo	„	double low-9 quotation mark
8224	†	dagger	†	dagger
8225	‡	Dagger	‡	double dagger
8226	•	bull	•	bullet = black small circle bullet is NOT the same as dot operator 8901.
8230	…	hellip	…	horizontal ellipsis = three dot leader
8240	‰	permil	‰	per mille sign
8242	′	prime	′	prime = minutes = feet
8243	″	Prime	″	double prime = seconds = inches
8249	‹	lsaquo	‹	single left-pointing angle quotation mark
8250	›	rsaquo	›	single right-pointing angle quotation mark
8254	‾	oline	‾	overline = spacing overscore
8260	⁄	frasl	⁄	fraction slash
8364	€	euro	€	euro sign
8465	ℑ	image	ℑ	blackletter capital I = imaginary part [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8472	℘	weierp	℘	script capital P = power set = Weierstrass p [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8476	ℜ	real	ℜ	blackletter capital R = real part symbol [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8482	™	trade	™	trade mark sign
8501	ℵ	alefsym	ℵ	alef symbol = first transfinite cardinal [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8592	←	larr	←	leftwards arrow
8593	↑	uarr	↑	upwards arrow
8594	→	rarr	→	rightwards arrow
8595	↓	darr	↓	downwards arrow
8596	↔	harr	↔	left right arrow
8629	↵	crarr	↵	downwards arrow with corner leftwardsc = carriage return [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8656	⇐	lArr	⇐	leftwards double arrow [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8657	⇑	uArr	⇑	upwards double arrow [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8658	⇒	rArr	⇒	rightwards double arrow [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8659	⇓	dArr	⇓	downwards double arrow [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8660	⇔	hArr	⇔	left right double arrow [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8704	∀	forall	∀	for all [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8706	∂	part	∂	partial differential
8707	∃	exist	∃	there exists [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8709	∅	empty	∅	empty set = null set = diameter [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8711	∇	nabla	∇	nabla = backward difference [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8712	∈	isin	∈	element of [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8713	∉	notin	∉	not an element of [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8715	∋	ni	∋	contains as member [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8719	∏	prod	∏	n-ary product = product sign
8721	∑	sum	∑	n-ary sumation
8722	−	minus	−	minus sign
8727	∗	lowast	∗	asterisk operator [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8730	√	radic	√	square root = radical sign
8733	∝	prop	∝	proportional to [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8734	∞	infin	∞	infinity
8736	∠	ang	∠	angle [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8743	∧	and	∧	logical and = wedge [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8744	∨	or	∨	logical or = vee [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8745	∩	cap	∩	intersection = cap
8746	∪	cup	∪	union = cup [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8747	∫	int	∫	integral
8756	∴	there4	∴	therefore [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8764	∼	sim	∼	tilde operator = varies with = similar to [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8773	≅	cong	≅	approximately equal to [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8776	≈	asymp	≈	almost equal to = asymptotic to
8800	≠	ne	≠	not equal to
8801	≡	equiv	≡	identical to
8804	≤	le	≤	less-than or equal to
8805	≥	ge	≥	greater-than or equal to
8834	⊂	sub	⊂	subset of [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8835	⊃	sup	⊃	superset of [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8836	⊄	nsub	⊄	not a subset of [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8838	⊆	sube	⊆	subset of or equal to [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8839	⊇	supe	⊇	superset of or equal to [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8853	⊕	oplus	⊕	circled plus = direct sum [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8855	⊗	otimes	⊗	circled times = vector product [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8869	⊥	perp	⊥	up tack = orthogonal to = perpendicular [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8901	⋅	sdot	⋅	dot operator NOT the same character as middot or bull. [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8968	⌈	lceil	⌈	left ceiling = apl upstile
8969	⌉	rceil	⌉	right ceiling
8970	⌊	lfloor	⌊	left floor = apl downstile
8971	⌋	rfloor	⌋	right floor
9001	〈	lang	⟨	left-pointing angle bracket = bra lang is NOT the same character as 'less than' [ IE, Chrome: No. FireFox, Opera, Yes. ]
9002	〉	rang	⟩	right-pointing angle bracket = ket rang is NOT the same character as 'greater than' [ IE, Chrome: No. FireFox, Opera, Yes. ]
9674	◊	loz	◊	lozenge
9824	♠	spades	♠	black spade suit black here seems to mean filled as opposed to hollow
9827	♣	clubs	♣	black club suit = shamrock
9829	♥	hearts	♥	black heart suit = valentine
9830	♦	diams	♦	black diamond suit

About ¡℘ƒϑϒ!: It means pfui! or fooey! I used a combination of one “invalid” character, one from the 300-series, and one from the 900-series. It could be like this: ℘ƒ∪Ÿ! but that breaks in IE, which is too stupid to understand a Weierstrass p.

—kv5r

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Named and Numeric Character Entities

Browsers ignore the charset police. So ¡℘ƒϑϒ! on them!