converting str with \n to one line str??

When I use Javascript with PHP i run into one problem. When I get the data i need from the database it often has a lot of <br> and \n (new lines) in it. The <br> are no problem when converting a string to a Javascript string, but the \n are. The string has to be all in one line. example: <? $temp = "here I am"; ?> <script>var temp = <? echo $temp?> </script> This is not working!! But this would : <? $temp = "here I am"; ?> <script>var temp = '<? echo $temp?>'; </script> Can you help me please? thanks Jens