reading utf-8/greek characters from an SQL using PHP

Question

Here is the problem.

Most of my entries in the SQL are in Greek. The collation I am using is utf8_general_ci.

If I manually add the entry in the DB using phpmyAdmin, I can see the value in Greek. But when I try to fetch that value using php, I am bringing back ????.

here is my code:

$result=mysql_query("SELECT name,type,lat,lon FROM map p WHERE p.place='$place' ");


  mysql_set_charset("utf-8");

On the other hand, If I add these values using php like this:

$query= "INSERT INTO posts(name,title,type,address,url,place) VALUES('$name','$title',$type,'$address','$url','$place')";

mysql_set_charset("utf-8");

In my php my admin, I see values like this:

Στο κέντÏο της γÏαφικής ΑÏάχωβας, το ξενοδοχείο Ευ Ζην Studios & Suites απ

But I can fetch them in Greek, if I use that code:

$result=mysql_query("SELECT name,title,type,address,url,place FROM posts p WHERE p.place='$place' ORDER BY p.IdPost LIMIT 50");
  mysql_set_charset("utf-8");

The demo code refers to different tables, but the problem happens in both.

So, when adding them manually, I can see the greek content in the SQL-phpmyadmin but cannot fetch them in php.

If I add them from php, I can't see what value has been added, but I can retrieve it normally.

Ideally, I would like to see Greek on the phpmyadmin, and read Greek on the php side (instead of ???).

Answer 1

mysql_set_charset("utf8");

1. The charset in MySQL is called utf8, not utf-8.
2. You need to call this before you do anything else with the database, not after you have sent your query. This call tells MySQL in what encoding you'll be sending data and in what encoding queries should return data, that needs to happen before you send data back and forth.

Answer 2

In your PHP application, after you have connected to MySQL, do this query once:

mysql_query("SET NAMES 'UTF8'");