Htmlentities.sh

#!/bin/sh
# htmlentities.sh
#
if [ $# -lt 1 ]
then
	echo "usage: $0 textfile"
else
for item in $*
do
     cp $item $item.bak
     sed -f /etc/scripts/sedfile $item.bak > $item
     rm $item.bak
done
fi

/etc/scripts/sedfile (remove the blank after the &!)

s/ä/\& auml;/g
s/ö/\& ouml;/g
s/ü/\& uuml;/g
s/Ä/\& Auml;/g
s/Ö/\& Ouml;/g
s/Ü/\& Uuml;/g
s/ß/\& szlig;/g