DOKK / manpages / debian 12 / libcurl4-doc / curl_unescape.3.en
curl_unescape(3) libcurl Manual curl_unescape(3)

curl_unescape - URL decodes the given string

#include <curl/curl.h>
char *curl_unescape( const char *url, int length);

Obsolete function. Use curl_easy_unescape(3) instead!

This function will convert the given URL encoded input string to a "plain string" and return that as a new allocated string. All input characters that are URL encoded (%XX where XX is a two-digit hexadecimal number) will be converted to their plain text versions.

If the 'length' argument is set to 0, curl_unescape(3) will use strlen() on the input url string to find out the size.

You must curl_free(3) the returned string when you are done with it.

CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();
if(curl) {

int decodelen;
char *decoded = curl_unescape("%63%75%72%6c", 12, &decodelen);
if(decoded) {
/* do not assume printf() works on the decoded data! */
printf("Decoded: ");
/* ... */
curl_free(decoded);
} }

Since 7.15.4, curl_easy_unescape(3) should be used. This function will be removed in a future release.

A pointer to a null-terminated string or NULL if it failed.

curl_easy_escape(3),curl_easy_unescape(3),curl_free(3),RFC2396

January 2, 2023 libcurl 7.88.1