TextDecoder()

The TextDecoder() constructor returns a newly created TextDecoder object for the encoding specified in parameter.

If the value for utfLabel is unknown, or is one of the two values leading to a 'replacement' decoding algorithm ( "iso-2022-cn" or "iso-2022-cn-ext"), a DOMException with the "TypeError" value is thrown.

Syntax

decoder = new TextDecoder(utfLabel, options);

Parameters

utfLabelOptional
Is a DOMString, defaulting to "utf-8", containing the label of the encoder. Each label is associated with a specific encoding type:
Possible values of utfLabel Encoding
"unicode-1-1-utf-8", "utf-8", "utf8" 'utf-8'
"866", "cp866", "csibm866", "ibm866" 'ibm866'
"csisolatin2", "iso-8859-2", "iso-ir-101", "iso8859-2", "iso88592", "iso_8859-2", "iso_8859-2:1987", "l2", "latin2" 'iso-8859-2'
"csisolatin3", "iso-8859-3", "iso-ir-109", "iso8859-3", "iso88593", "iso_8859-3", "iso_8859-3:1988", "l3", "latin3" 'iso-8859-3'
"csisolatin4", "iso-8859-4", "iso-ir-110", "iso8859-4", "iso88594", "iso_8859-4", "iso_8859-4:1988", "l4", "latin4" 'iso-8859-4'
"csisolatincyrillic", "cyrillic", "iso-8859-5", "iso-ir-144", "iso88595", "iso_8859-5", "iso_8859-5:1988" 'iso-8859-5'
"arabic", "asmo-708", "csiso88596e", "csiso88596i", "csisolatinarabic", "ecma-114", "iso-8859-6", "iso-8859-6-e", "iso-8859-6-i", "iso-ir-127", "iso8859-6", "iso88596", "iso_8859-6", "iso_8859-6:1987" 'iso-8859-6'
"csisolatingreek", "ecma-118", "elot_928", "greek", "greek8", "iso-8859-7", "iso-ir-126", "iso8859-7", "iso88597", "iso_8859-7", "iso_8859-7:1987", "sun_eu_greek" 'iso-8859-7'
"csiso88598e", "csisolatinhebrew", "hebrew", "iso-8859-8", "iso-8859-8-e", "iso-ir-138", "iso8859-8", "iso88598", "iso_8859-8", "iso_8859-8:1988", "visual" 'iso-8859-8'
"csiso88598i", "iso-8859-8-i", "logical" 'iso-8859-8i'
"csisolatin6", "iso-8859-10", "iso-ir-157", "iso8859-10", "iso885910", "l6", "latin6" 'iso-8859-10'
"iso-8859-13", "iso8859-13", "iso885913" 'iso-8859-13'
"iso-8859-14", "iso8859-14", "iso885914" 'iso-8859-14'
"csisolatin9", "iso-8859-15", "iso8859-15", "iso885915", "l9", "latin9" 'iso-8859-15'
"iso-8859-16" 'iso-8859-16'
"cskoi8r", "koi", "koi8", "koi8-r", "koi8_r" 'koi8-r'
"koi8-u" 'koi8-u'
"csmacintosh", "mac", "macintosh", "x-mac-roman" 'macintosh'
"dos-874", "iso-8859-11", "iso8859-11", "iso885911", "tis-620", "windows-874" 'windows-874'
"cp1250", "windows-1250", "x-cp1250" 'windows-1250'
"cp1251", "windows-1251", "x-cp1251" 'windows-1251'
"ansi_x3.4-1968", "ascii", "cp1252", "cp819", "csisolatin1", "ibm819", "iso-8859-1", "iso-ir-100", "iso8859-1", "iso88591", "iso_8859-1", "iso_8859-1:1987", "l1", "latin1", "us-ascii", "windows-1252", "x-cp1252" 'windows-1252'
"cp1253", "windows-1253", "x-cp1253" 'windows-1253'
"cp1254", "csisolatin5", "iso-8859-9", "iso-ir-148", "iso8859-9", "iso88599", "iso_8859-9", "iso_8859-9:1989", "l5", "latin5", "windows-1254", "x-cp1254" 'windows-1254'
"cp1255", "windows-1255", "x-cp1255" 'windows-1255'
"cp1256", "windows-1256", "x-cp1256" 'windows-1256'
"cp1257", "windows-1257", "x-cp1257" 'windows-1257'
"cp1258", "windows-1258", "x-cp1258" 'windows-1258'
"x-mac-cyrillic", "x-mac-ukrainian" 'x-mac-cyrillic'
"chinese", "csgb2312", "csiso58gb231280", "gb2312", "gb_2312", "gb_2312-80", "gbk", "iso-ir-58", "x-gbk" 'gbk'
"gb18030" 'gb18030'
"hz-gb-2312" 'hz-gb-2312'
"big5", "big5-hkscs", "cn-big5", "csbig5", "x-x-big5" 'big5'
"cseucpkdfmtjapanese", "euc-jp", "x-euc-jp" 'euc-jp'

"csiso2022jp", "iso-2022-jp"

Note: Firefox used to accept iso-2022-jp-2 sequences silently when an iso-2022-jp decoder was instantiated, however this was removed in version 56 to simplify the API, as no other browsers support it and no pages seem to use it.

'iso-2022-jp'
"csshiftjis", "ms_kanji", "shift-jis", "shift_jis", "sjis", "windows-31j", "x-sjis" 'shift-jis'
"cseuckr", "csksc56011987", "euc-kr", "iso-ir-149", "korean", "ks_c_5601-1987", "ks_c_5601-1989", "ksc5601", "ksc_5601", "windows-949" 'euc-kr'
"csiso2022kr", "iso-2022-kr" 'iso-2022-kr'
"utf-16be" 'utf-16be'
"utf-16", "utf-16le" 'utf-16le'
"x-user-defined" 'x-user-defined'
"iso-2022-cn", "iso-2022-cn-ext" 'replacement'
optionsOptional
Is a TextDecoderOptions dictionary with the property:
fatal
A Boolean flag indicating if the TextDecoder.decode() method must throw a DOMException with the "EncodingError" value when an coding error is found. It defaults to false.

Example

var textDecoder1 = new TextDecoder("iso-8859-2");
var textDecoder2 = new TextDecoder();
var textDecoder3 = new TextDecoder("csiso2022kr", {fatal: true}); // Allows EncodingError exception to be thrown.
var textDecoder4 = new TextDecoder("iso-2022-cn"); // Throw a TypeError exception.

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
Encoding
The definition of 'TextDecoder()' in that specification.
Living Standard Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

DesktopMobile
ChromeEdgeFirefoxInternet ExplorerOperaSafariAndroid webviewChrome for AndroidFirefox for AndroidOpera for AndroidSafari on iOSSamsung Internet
TextDecoder() constructorChrome Full support 38Edge Full support ≤79Firefox Full support 19
Full support 19
Partial support 18
Notes
Notes Implemented a slightly different version of the spec.
IE No support NoOpera Full support 25Safari Full support 10.1WebView Android Full support 38Chrome Android Full support 38Firefox Android Full support 19
Full support 19
Partial support 18
Notes
Notes Implemented a slightly different version of the spec.
Opera Android ? Safari iOS Full support 10.3Samsung Internet Android Full support 3.0

Legend

Full support
Full support
No support
No support
Compatibility unknown
Compatibility unknown
See implementation notes.
See implementation notes.

See also