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**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [December 11, 2006, 10:56pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-fasterhtmlescape-an-h-replacement/79061 "2006-12-11T22:56:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1
**Author:**  [@nerdmaster](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nerdmaster)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 10:56pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-fasterhtmlescape-an-h-replacement/79061/1 "2006-12-11T22:56:15Z")
h is a function commonly used in .rhtml templates to escape HTML data
(e.g. “\<%=h html %\>”). It is defined in ERB::Util#html\_escape (h is
an alias). It’s implementation is relatively unoptimized, requiring a
separate gsub for each of \<, \>, &, and ". Ruby’s implementation of
String#gsub (str\_gsub, written in C), converts all string arguments to
regular expressions before scanning the input, further slowing things
down.
I have rewritten html\_escape in C, speeding it up by a factor of 4-20
depending on the input. Input with no HTML characters is about 4
times faster, input of exclusively HTML characters is about 20 times
faster.
Attached is a tarball, which includes:
extconf.rb - for creating the makefile to compile the extension
faster\_html\_escape.c - The C version of html\_escape (which is created
inside the FasterHTMLEscape module)
speed\_up\_html\_escape.rb - This replaces the ERB::Util version of
html\_escape and h, as well as CGI.escapeHTML, with the C version
test\_faster\_html\_escape.rb - Small test script for checking the
validity of the C function as well as benchmarking it
test\_faster\_html\_escape.sh - Uses test\_faster\_html\_escape.rb to check
and benchmark the C function with various inputs
To install (assuming Unix conventions):
tar zxf faster\_html\_escape.tar.gz
cd faster\_html\_escape
ruby extconf.rb
make
./test\_faster\_html\_escape.sh
sudo make install
To use:
# For example, in environment.rb
require ‘speed\_up\_html\_escape’
If there is interest in this, I can look into packaging it as a gem.
Please try it out and give me feedback.
Thanks,
Jeremy
---
**Author:**  [@nerdmaster](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nerdmaster)\
**Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 5:50pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-fasterhtmlescape-an-h-replacement/79061/2 "2006-12-12T17:50:50Z")
On 12/11/06, Jeremy E. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote:
> depending on the input. Input with no HTML characters is about 4
> times faster, input of exclusively HTML characters is about 20 times
> faster.
>
> Attached is a tarball, which includes:
Great idea Jeremy! Considering that this is used so often in rendering
html,
this is a simple way to improve rendering performance especially for
files
that have large amounts of html\_escaped content.
Have you considered creating a gem for this?
Ideally I’d like to see this replace the built-in ruby html\_escape once
adequate testing and analysis has been done on the module, but in the
meantime it would be great to have it as a gem to lower the barrier of
entry
for users (especially windoze users which often don’t have compilers).
Blessings,
Jeff
---
**Author:**  [@nerdmaster](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nerdmaster)\
**Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 6:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-fasterhtmlescape-an-h-replacement/79061/3 "2006-12-12T18:47:06Z")
Anything that can reliably improve speed should be greeted with much
enthusiasm. So, I definitely think there will be interest in this and
the
gem idea is a good one.
thanks,
andy
---
**Author:**  [@nerdmaster](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nerdmaster)\
**Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 11:32pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-fasterhtmlescape-an-h-replacement/79061/4 "2006-12-12T23:32:58Z")
On 12/11/06, Jeremy E. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote:
> times faster, input of exclusively HTML characters is about 20 times
> validity of the C function as well as benchmarking it
> sudo make install
>
> To use:
>
> # For example, in environment.rb
>
> require ‘speed\_up\_html\_escape’
>
> If there is interest in this, I can look into packaging it as a gem.
>
> Please try it out and give me feedback.
I got enough requests for this that I’ve packaged it as a gem and
applied for a RubyForge project. I’ll post again after the project
has been approved and the gem is available via gem install. I don’t
anticipate having a Win32 version, but if you running Rails on Win32,
you probably don’t care too much about performance.
Thanks,
Jeremy
---
**Author:**  [@nerdmaster](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nerdmaster)\
**Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 10:20pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-fasterhtmlescape-an-h-replacement/79061/5 "2006-12-12T22:20:48Z")
On Dec 11, 2006, at 1:53 PM, Jeremy E. wrote:
> # For example, in environment.rb
>
> require ‘speed\_up\_html\_escape’
>
> If there is interest in this, I can look into packaging it as a gem.
>
> Please try it out and give me feedback.
Hey Jeremy-
```
This is definitely cool. I would definitely use this as a gem if you
```
make it into one. If you don’t I might vendor it in merb 😉
Thanks-
– Ezra Z.
– Lead Rails Evangelist
– removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid
– Engine Y., Serious Rails Hosting
– (866) 518-YARD (9273)
---
**Author:**  [@nerdmaster](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nerdmaster)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 1:29am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-fasterhtmlescape-an-h-replacement/79061/6 "2006-12-13T01:29:17Z")
> I got enough requests for this that I’ve packaged it as a gem and
> applied for a RubyForge project. I’ll post again after the project
> has been approved and the gem is available via gem install.
> Very nice
> I don’t
> anticipate having a Win32 version, but if you running Rails on Win32,
> you probably don’t care too much about performance.
lol
Thanks,
matthi
---
**Author:**  [@nerdmaster](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nerdmaster)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 9:01pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-fasterhtmlescape-an-h-replacement/79061/7 "2006-12-13T21:01:30Z")
On 12/12/06, Jeremy E. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote:
> > depending on the input. Input with no HTML characters is about 4
> > times faster, input of exclusively HTML characters is about 20 times
> > faster.
> >
> > To use:
> >
> > # For example, in environment.rb
> >
> > require ‘speed\_up\_html\_escape’
>
> I got enough requests for this that I’ve packaged it as a gem and
> applied for a RubyForge project.
The gem is now available via “gem install faster\_html\_escape”. After
installing it, add “require ‘speed\_up\_html\_escape’” to environment.rb
to speed your h up.
If you want to use it outside of Rails:
require ‘rubygems’
require\_gem ‘faster\_html\_escape’
require ‘speed\_up\_html\_escape’
Please direct any questions/comments to the RubyForge site:
[http://rubyforge.org/projects/fasterh/](http://rubyforge.org/projects/fasterh/).
Thanks,
Jeremy