utf8 in database - set default_charset in php.ini

Question

I have set utf8 in mysql database

now it shows

+--------------------------+----------------------------+
| Variable_name            | Value                      |
+--------------------------+----------------------------+
| character_set_client     | utf8                       |
| character_set_connection | utf8                       |
| character_set_database   | utf8                       |
| character_set_filesystem | binary                     |
| character_set_results    | utf8                       |
| character_set_server     | utf8                       |
| character_set_system     | utf8                       |
| character_sets_dir       | /usr/share/mysql/charsets/ |
+--------------------------+----------------------------+


+----------------------+-----------------+
| Variable_name        | Value           |
+----------------------+-----------------+
| collation_connection | utf8_general_ci |
| collation_database   | utf8_unicode_ci |
| collation_server     | utf8_unicode_ci |
+----------------------+-----------------+

I have the below in the php code

mysqli_query("SET NAMES 'utf8'");

and

$con = mysqli_connect('host','user','pass','database');
mysqli_query($con,"SET NAMES 'utf8'");

Since I set utf8 in database, I am planning to remove

mysqli_query("SET NAMES 'utf8'");

and

mysqli_query($database,"SET NAMES 'utf8'");

from PHP code

I was told that I can remove the above code but I need to add

mysqli_set_charset($con,"utf8");

in the PHP code.

Instead of adding mysqli_set_charset($con,"utf8") in the code, can I set

default_charset = "UTF-8"

in php.ini?

my.cnf is

[client]
default-character-set=utf8

[mysqld]
default-character-set=utf8
default-collation=utf8_general_ci
character-set-server=utf8
collation-server=utf8_unicode_ci
init-connect='SET NAMES utf8'

You're mixing mysql_ and mysqli_ functions in your question. They shouldn't be mixed like that. If it's a typo, fix your question. — Machavity
– Machavity ♦, Commented Oct 12, 2015 at 17:48
please note that standard UTF8 in MySQL is NOT the full UTF8 Character set. If you want/ need the full UTF8 character set saved in your database you need to use UTF8mb4 in MySQL. — Mm-Art-In
– Mm-Art-In, Commented Oct 12, 2015 at 18:05
see stackoverflow.com/questions/279170/utf-8-all-the-way-through — Mm-Art-In
– Mm-Art-In, Commented Oct 12, 2015 at 18:07

C3roe · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-12 17:48:38Z

2

Instead of adding mysqli_set_charset($con,"utf8") in the code, can I set default_charset = "UTF-8" in php.ini?

No, that does not affect the database connection character set.

And even the MySQL extension settings offer nothing in that regard – and neither do those for MySQLi.

It is a per-connection setting after all.

But if you put your code to establish the database connection into one file that you include wherever it is needed, that should be enough.

answered Oct 12, 2015 at 17:48

C3roe

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6 Comments

Jeff Over a year ago

so, mysqli_set_charset($con,"utf8"); is a must have after establishing database connection?

C3roe Over a year ago

Unless you can configure the default value in the MySQL server settings directly: Yes. (dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/…)

Jeff Over a year ago

in my.cnf, I have [client] default-character-set=utf8 and [mysqld] default-character-set=utf8

Steve E. Over a year ago

Strongly recommend always putting it into your code. That way it your code is not dependent on the MySQL server configuration which could change over time.

Steve E. Over a year ago

The [client] section of my.cnf applies to the mysql command line tool. It does not affect the server. It really is better to be specific in your code about the connection character-set rather than leave it to configuration options. The impact on performance is negligible.

|

usman zafar · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-12 18:04:04Z

0

The question is in reference to MySQL so setting up a config in php.ini won't help much in this case. What i suggest is to update the my.cnf file in mysql

more about my.cnf settings can be found here

[client] 
default-character-set=utf8

[mysqld] 
character-set-server=utf8 
default-character-set=utf8 
default-collation=utf8_unicode_ci 
character-set-client = utf8

i took the above part from this thread, which discusses the same issue but for both PHP and MySQL. Hope this helps!

answered Oct 12, 2015 at 18:04

usman zafar

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1 Comment

Jeff Over a year ago

I have updated my question with my.cnf if I have those settings in my.cnf, can I avoid having mysqli_set_charset($con,"utf8"); in the code?

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