Ruby 1.9: What to Expect

def xchr(escape=true)
  n = XChar::CP1252[self] || self
  case n when *XChar::VALID
    XChar::PREDEFINED[n] or 
      (n<128 ? n.chr : (escape ? "&##{n};" : [n].pack('U*')))
  else
    Builder::XChar::REPLACEMENT_CHAR
  end
end
unpack('U*').map {|n| n.xchr(escape)}.join