How to Handle Unicode Strings (e.g., Hindi) in PHP and MySQL?

Storing and Displaying Unicode Strings (हिन्दी) Using PHP and MySQL

Storing and displaying non-Latin character sets like Hindi in a web application can be challenging, but it is essential to support a wider audience. Here's a comprehensive guide on how to achieve this using PHP and MySQL:

Setting Database Parameters

• Ensure your MySQL database has a correct character set and collation by executing these commands:

  <code class="sql">SET character_set_database=utf8;
  SET collation_database=utf8_unicode_ci;</code>

• In the table definition, specify the column for storing unicode data as VARCHAR with CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 and COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci.

Data Insertion and Retrieval

• When inserting data, directly input the Unicode string into the database without any modifications.

• To retrieve the data in PHP, execute the following query before fetching:

  <code class="php">mysql_query("SET NAMES utf8");</code>

• Use utf8_encode() to convert the Unicode string to UTF-8 format before displaying it.

PHP Script Example

<code class="php"><?php header('Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8');

// Database connection
include('connection.php');

// Execute query with UTF-8 encoding
mysql_query("SET NAMES utf8");
$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM `hindi`");

// Fetch and display results
while ($row = mysql_fetch_row($result)) {
    echo utf8_encode($row[0]);
}
?></code>

Database Dump

The database dump should resemble the following:

<code class="sql">CREATE TABLE `hindi` (
  `data` VARCHAR(1000) CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci DEFAULT NULL
);

INSERT INTO `hindi` VALUES ('सूर्योदय');</code>

Troubleshooting

• Ensure that the HTML head section includes the correct character set:

  <code class="html"><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8"></code>

• Verify that the web server is properly configured to handle Unicode strings.
• If problems persist, consult relevant documentation or seek assistance from forums like StackOverflow.

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