How do you remove accents from characters in PHP strings for URL use?

Removing Accents from Characters in PHP Strings

When converting characters in a PHP string to their ASCII equivalents to make the string suitable for URL use, it's common to encounter problems related to character encodings. Here's how to tackle this issue:

1. Verify the Server Configuration:

Confirm that your server has the correct implementation of iconv. PHP's iconv function relies on the "libiconv" library, not the "glibc" version. If you encounter issues like accented characters being replaced with question marks, verify this configuration using the phpinfo() function.

2. Set the Locale:

Use setlocale(LC_ALL, "en_US.utf8") to set the locale to "en_US.utf8" and ensure that the input string is in UTF-8 encoding. Use PHP's mb_check_encoding() function to validate this encoding.

3. Transliterate Characters:

Use iconv("utf-8", "ascii//TRANSLIT", $input) to transliterate characters from UTF-8 to ASCII using the "TRANSLIT" transliteration mode. This should remove accents and special characters.

4. Utilize String Functions:

If you don't have access to the "libiconv" implementation of iconv, you can use the following PHP string manipulation functions to remove accents:

• strtr(): Replaces accented characters with their non-accented equivalents.
• preg_replace(): Replaces accented characters with their ASCII equivalents.
• mb_convert_encoding(): Converts the string from UTF-8 to ASCII, removing accents.

5. Custom Function:

Consider using a custom function like the WordPress implementation shown below, which utilizes character maps to translate accented characters to their plain ASCII counterparts:

function remove_accents($string) {
    if ( !preg_match('/[\x80-\xff]/', $string) )
        return $string;

    $chars = array(
    // Decompositions for Latin-1 Supplement
    chr(195).chr(128) => 'A', chr(195).chr(129) => 'A',
    chr(195).chr(130) => 'A', chr(195).chr(131) => 'A',
    chr(195).chr(132) => 'A', chr(195).chr(133) => 'A',
    chr(195).chr(135) => 'C', chr(195).chr(136) => 'E',
    chr(195).chr(137) => 'E', chr(195).chr(138) => 'E',
    chr(195).chr(139) => 'E', chr(195).chr(140) => 'I',
    chr(195).chr(141) => 'I', chr(195).chr(142) => 'I',
    chr(195).chr(143) => 'I', chr(195).chr(145) => 'N',
    chr(195).chr(146) => 'O', chr(195).chr(147) => 'O',
    chr(195).chr(148) => 'O', chr(195).chr(149) => 'O',
    chr(195).chr(150) => 'O', chr(195).chr(153) => 'U',
    chr(195).chr(154) => 'U', chr(195).chr(155) => 'U',
    chr(195).chr(156) => 'U', chr(195).chr(157) => 'Y',
    chr(195).chr(159) => 's', chr(195).chr(160) => 'a',
    chr(195).chr(161) => 'a', chr(195).chr(162) => 'a',
    chr(195).chr(163) => 'a', chr(195).chr(164) => 'a',
    chr(195).chr(165) => 'a', chr(195).chr(167) => 'c',
    chr(195).chr(168) => 'e', chr(195).chr(169) => 'e',
    chr(195).chr(170) => 'e', chr(195).chr(171) => 'e',
    chr(195).chr(172) => 'i', chr(195).chr(173) => 'i',
    chr(195).chr(174) => 'i', chr(195).chr(175) => 'i',
    chr(195).chr(177) => 'n', chr(195).chr(178) => 'o',
    chr(195).chr(179) => 'o', chr(195).chr(180) => 'o',
    chr(195).chr(181) => 'o', chr(195).chr(182) => 'o',
    chr(195).chr(182) => 'o', chr(195).chr(185) => 'u',
    chr(195).chr(186) => 'u', chr(195).chr(187) => 'u',
    chr(195).chr(188) => 'u', chr(195).chr(189) => 'y',
    chr(195).chr(191) => 'y',
    // Decompositions for Latin Extended-A
    chr(196).chr(128) => 'A', chr(196).chr(129) => 'a',
    chr(196).chr(130) => 'A', chr(196).chr(131) => 'a',
    chr(196).chr(132) => 'A', chr(196).chr(133) => 'a',
    chr(196).chr(134) => 'C', chr(196).chr(135) => 'c',
    chr(196).chr(136) => 'C', chr(196).chr(137) => 'c',
    chr(196).chr(138) => 'C', chr(196).chr(139) => 'c',
    chr(196).chr(140) => 'C', chr(196).chr(141) => 'c',
    chr(196).chr(142) => 'D', chr(196).chr(143) => 'd',
    chr(196).chr(144) => 'D', chr(196).chr(145) => 'd',
    chr(196).chr(146) => 'E', chr(196).chr(147) => 'e',
    chr(196).chr(148) => 'E', chr(196).chr(149) => 'e',
    chr(196).chr(150) => 'E', chr(196).chr(151) => 'e',
    chr(196).chr(152) => 'E', chr(196).chr(153) => 'e',
    chr(196).chr(154) => 'E', chr(196).chr(155) => 'e',

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