Encoding/Decoding within URLs: * * The following two functions perform the '%'-substitution for * characters that may otherwise be interpreted as metacharacters. * * According to: RFC 1738, RFC 1630 * * Option plus: This option has been added because there are some * implementations that do not map ' ' to '+', for example Javascript's * escape function. The default is true because this is the RFC- * compliant definition.

Encodes characters that need protection by converting them to * entity references. E.g. "<" is converted to "<". * As the entities may be named, there is a dependency on the character * set.