mysql_set_charset

    (PHP 5 >= 5.2.3)

    mysql_set_charset — Sets the client character set

    Warning

    This extension was deprecated in PHP 5.5.0, and it was removed in PHP 7.0.0. Instead, the MySQLi or PDO_MySQL extension should be used. See also MySQL: choosing an API guide. Alternatives to this function include:

    Description

    mysql_set_charset(string $charset, resource $link_identifier = NULL): bool

    Sets the default character set for the current connection.

    Parameters

    charset

    A valid character set name.

    link_identifier

    The MySQL connection. If the link identifier is not specified, the last link opened by mysql_connect() is assumed. If no such link is found, it will try to create one as if mysql_connect() had been called with no arguments. If no connection is found or established, an E_WARNING level error is generated.

    Return Values

    Returns true on success or false on failure.

    Notes

    Note:

    This function requires MySQL 5.0.7 or later.

    Note:

    This is the preferred way to change the charset. Using mysql_query() to set it (such as SET NAMES utf8) is not recommended. See the MySQL character set concepts section for more information.

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    User Contributed Notes 3 notes

    up
    33
    Ashus
    15 years ago
    I needed to access the database from within one particular webhosting service. Pages are UTF-8 encoded and data received by forms should be inserted into database without changing the encoding. The database is also in UTF-8.

    Neither SET character set 'utf8' or SET names 'utf8' worked properly here, so this workaround made sure all variables are set to utf-8.

    <?php

    // ... (creating a connection to mysql) ...

    mysql_query("SET character_set_results = 'utf8', character_set_client = 'utf8', character_set_connection = 'utf8', character_set_database = 'utf8', character_set_server = 'utf8'", $conn);

    $re = mysql_query('SHOW VARIABLES LIKE "%character_set%";')or die(mysql_error());
    while (    $r = mysql_fetch_assoc($re)) {var_dump ($r); echo "<br />";} exit;

    ?>

    All important variables are now utf-8 and we can safely use INSERTs or SELECTs with mysql_escape_string($var) without any encoding functions.
    up
    15
    nabeelmoidu at gmail dot com
    16 years ago
    Here's an example of how to use this feature :

    I'm using PHP 5.2.5 from http://oss.oracle.com/projects/php/

    I wanted to store arabic characters as UTF8 in the database and as suggested in many of the google results, I tried using

    mysql_query("SET NAMES 'utf8'");

    and

    mysql_query("SET CHARACTER SET utf8 ");

    but it did not work.

    Using the following, it worked flawlessly

    $link = mysql_connect('localhost', 'user', 'password');
    mysql_set_charset('utf8',$link);

    Once this is set we need not manually encode the text into utf using utf8_encode() or other functions. The arabic ( or any UTF8 supported ) text can be passed directly to the database and it is automatically converted by PHP.
    For eg.
    <?php
    $link     = mysql_connect('localhost', 'user', 'password');
    mysql_set_charset('utf8',$link);
    $db_selected = mysql_select_db('emp_feedback', $link);
    if (!    $db_selected) { die ('Database access error : ' . mysql_error());}
    $query = "INSERT INTO feedback ( EmpName, Message ) VALUES ('$_empName','$_message')";
    mysql_query($query) or die('Error, Feedback insert into database failed');
    ?>
    Note that here $_empName is stored in English while $_message is in Arabic.
    up
    1
    Janez R.
    16 years ago
    I assume that this is an equivalent in previous versions of php (add some parameter validation and default values though!):
    <?
    if (!function_exists('mysql_set_charset')) {
    function mysql_set_charset($charset,$dbh)
    {
    return mysql_query("set names $charset",$dbh);
    }
    }
    ?>
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