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How to combine mysqli::set_charset() with mysqli::get_charset() for character set verification?

M66 2025-05-26

Character set settings are important when using PHP for MySQL database connections. Character sets determine how the database processes text data, so choosing the right character set is crucial to avoid garbled code and ensure data consistency. This article will explore how to combine mysqli::set_charset() and mysqli::get_charset() to set and verify the character set of the database connection to ensure the correct character set.

1. Introduction to mysqli extension

In PHP, the mysqli extension is a common method for interacting with a MySQL database. It supports object-oriented methods, and also supports functions such as preprocessing statements and multi-result sets. With mysqli , we can easily establish connections and query operations with MySQL database.

2. The importance of character sets

When interacting with the database, character set settings determine how character data is encoded. Suppose we need to store data containing Chinese, Japanese or other special characters. If the character set is not set properly, it will lead to garbled code, which may damage the data in serious cases.

To avoid this, it is very necessary to properly set and verify the character set. The default character set of MySQL is latin1 . If you need to store multilingual content, it is recommended to use utf8 or utf8mb4 character sets. In particular, utf8mb4 supports a wider set of characters, including special symbols such as Emoji emoji.

3. mysqli::set_charset() method

mysqli::set_charset() is a method used to set the database connection character set. By calling this method, you can explicitly specify the character set used on the current database connection.

Example:

 <?php
// Establish a database connection
$mysqli = new mysqli("localhost", "username", "password", "database_name");

// Check if the connection is successful
if ($mysqli->connect_error) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $mysqli->connect_error);
}

// Set the character set to utf8mb4
if (!$mysqli->set_charset("utf8mb4")) {
    echo "Error loading character set utf8mb4: " . $mysqli->error;
} else {
    echo "Current character set: " . $mysqli->get_charset()->charset;
}

// Perform other actions
?>

In the above code, $mysqli->set_charset("utf8mb4") is used to set the character set of the currently connected to utf8mb4 . If the setting is successful, the program will continue to execute, and if it fails, an error message will be output.

4. mysqli::get_charset() method

The mysqli::get_charset() method is used to get the character set of the current database connection. This method returns an object containing character set information, usually an object containing charset and collation properties.

Example:

 <?php
// Get the character set information of the current connection
$charset_info = $mysqli->get_charset();

// Output character set information
echo "Current character set: " . $charset_info->charset . "<br>";
echo "Current sorting rules: " . $charset_info->collation;
?>

Through the above code, we can verify that the character set settings of the currently connected are correct. If the character set is not explicitly set when connecting to the database, mysqli uses the MySQL default character set.

5. Comprehensive examples of character set settings and verification

To ensure that the database connection uses the correct character set, we can combine mysqli::set_charset() and mysqli::get_charset() for setup and verification.

 <?php
// Create a database connection
$mysqli = new mysqli("localhost", "username", "password", "database_name");

// Check if the connection is successful
if ($mysqli->connect_error) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $mysqli->connect_error);
}

// Set the character set to utf8mb4
if (!$mysqli->set_charset("utf8mb4")) {
    die("Error loading character set utf8mb4: " . $mysqli->error);
}

// 获取并验证Current character set
$charset_info = $mysqli->get_charset();
if ($charset_info->charset === "utf8mb4") {
    echo "The character set is correctly set to: " . $charset_info->charset;
} else {
    echo "The character set is incorrect, Current character set: " . $charset_info->charset;
}

// Perform other database operations
?>

In this code, first set the character set to utf8mb4 through the set_charset() method, and then obtain the current character set information through the get_charset() method and verify it. If the character set is set correctly, the program will output the corresponding prompt information.

6. Error handling and debugging

In actual development, character set problems may lead to some difficult-to-debug errors, such as garbled code, data loss, etc. To do this, it is recommended that developers always use the mysqli::set_charset() method to explicitly set the character set before performing database operations, and use mysqli::get_charset() after each connection to confirm whether the character set is set correctly.

7. Summary

With mysqli::set_charset() and mysqli::get_charset() , we can ensure that database connections use the correct character set, thus avoiding character encoding errors and ensuring accurate storage and retrieval of data. When it comes to multilingual character storage, it is recommended to choose the utf8mb4 character set to ensure that it can handle various special characters, including Emoji emoji, etc.