> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://boxlang.ortusbooks.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://boxlang.ortusbooks.com/boxlang-framework/modularity/esapi/reference/built-in-functions/esapi/canonicalize.md).

# Canonicalize

Canonicalize or decode the input string.

Canonicalization is simply the operation of reducing a possibly encoded string down to its simplest form. This is important because attackers frequently use encoding to change their input in a way that will bypass validation filters, but still be interpreted properly by the target of the attack.

Note that data encoded more than once is not something that a normal user would generate and should be regarded as an attack.

## Method Signature

```
Canonicalize(input=[string], restrictMultiple=[boolean], restrictMixed=[boolean], throwOnError=[boolean])
```

### Arguments

| Argument           | Type      | Required | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            | Default |
| ------------------ | --------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------- |
| `input`            | `string`  | `true`   | The input string to be canonicalized.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |         |
| `restrictMultiple` | `boolean` | `true`   | <p>If set to true, multiple encoding is restricted. This argument can be set to true to restrict the input if multiple or<br>nested encoding is detected. If this argument is set to true, and the given input is multiple or nested encoded using<br>one encoding scheme an error will be thrown.</p> |         |
| `restrictMixed`    | `boolean` | `true`   | If set to true, mixed encoding is restricted. This argument can be set to true to restrict the input if mixed encoding is                                                                                                                                                                              |         |
| `throwOnError`     | `boolean` | `false`  | If set to true, an error will be thrown if the input is not valid. If set to false, the input will be returned as is.                                                                                                                                                                                  | `false` |

## Examples

## Related

* [DecodeFor](/boxlang-framework/modularity/esapi/reference/built-in-functions/esapi/decodefor.md)
* [DecodeForBase64](/boxlang-framework/modularity/esapi/reference/built-in-functions/esapi/decodeforbase64.md)
* [DecodeForHTML](/boxlang-framework/modularity/esapi/reference/built-in-functions/esapi/decodeforhtml.md)
* [DecodeForJson](/boxlang-framework/modularity/esapi/reference/built-in-functions/esapi/decodeforjson.md)
* [DecodeFromURL](/boxlang-framework/modularity/esapi/reference/built-in-functions/esapi/decodefromurl.md)
* [EncodeFor](/boxlang-framework/modularity/esapi/reference/built-in-functions/esapi/encodefor.md)
* [encodeForCSS](/boxlang-framework/modularity/esapi/reference/built-in-functions/esapi/encodeforcss.md)
* [encodeForDN](/boxlang-framework/modularity/esapi/reference/built-in-functions/esapi/encodefordn.md)
* [encodeForHTML](/boxlang-framework/modularity/esapi/reference/built-in-functions/esapi/encodeforhtml.md)
* [encodeForHTMLAttribute](/boxlang-framework/modularity/esapi/reference/built-in-functions/esapi/encodeforhtmlattribute.md)
* [encodeForJavaScript](/boxlang-framework/modularity/esapi/reference/built-in-functions/esapi/encodeforjavascript.md)
* [encodeForLDAP](/boxlang-framework/modularity/esapi/reference/built-in-functions/esapi/encodeforldap.md)
* [EncodeForSQL](/boxlang-framework/modularity/esapi/reference/built-in-functions/esapi/encodeforsql.md)
* [encodeForURL](/boxlang-framework/modularity/esapi/reference/built-in-functions/esapi/encodeforurl.md)
* [encodeForXML](/boxlang-framework/modularity/esapi/reference/built-in-functions/esapi/encodeforxml.md)
* [encodeForXMLAttribute](/boxlang-framework/modularity/esapi/reference/built-in-functions/esapi/encodeforxmlattribute.md)
* [encodeForXPath](/boxlang-framework/modularity/esapi/reference/built-in-functions/esapi/encodeforxpath.md)
* [esapiDecode](/boxlang-framework/modularity/esapi/reference/built-in-functions/esapi/esapidecode.md)
* [esapiEncode](/boxlang-framework/modularity/esapi/reference/built-in-functions/esapi/esapiencode.md)
* [GetSafeHTML](/boxlang-framework/modularity/esapi/reference/built-in-functions/esapi/getsafehtml.md)
* [IsSafeHTML](/boxlang-framework/modularity/esapi/reference/built-in-functions/esapi/issafehtml.md)
* [SanitizeHTML](/boxlang-framework/modularity/esapi/reference/built-in-functions/esapi/sanitizehtml.md)


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