PHP json_encode is returning local language characters as html entities. Output needed in unicode

Question

My php web service uses json_encode to return json data fetched from MySQL database table. The data should be returned in whatever local language as unicode. Instead local characters like hindi/telugu/bengali are displayed as html entities. But output is needed as unicode and NOT html entities.

<?php

    //header('Content-Type: text/html;charset: utf8'); //wasted code line

    //Connection and credentials
    $servername = "xxx.yyy.zzz.nnn";
    $username = "username";
    $password = "password";
    $dbname = "mydb";

    //variables to store fetched data
    $item[]=array();
    $dataArray[] = array();

    // Create connection
    $conn = mysql_connect($servername, $username, $password);

   //mysql_set_charset('utf8', $conn); //wasted code line

   $mytopid = mysql_real_escape_string($_GET['mytopid']); //get input
   $query = "SELECT  * FROM datamaster where Id > '$mytopid' order by Id desc"; //Now query 

   //mysql_query("set names 'utf8'"); //wasted code line

    if ($result=mysql_query($query,$conn)){   
        $rows = mysql_numrows($result);
        $i= 0;
        while ($i < $rows){    
           //fetch data  
           $row = mysql_fetch_array($result);

           //wasted code lines
           //$dataArray[$i]["shortid"] = utf8_encode($row['Id']);
           //$dataArray[$i]["shorttitle"] = utf8_encode($row['Title']);

           //reality
           $dataArray[$i]["shortid"] = $row['Id'];
           $dataArray[$i]["shorttitle"] = $row['Title'];
           $i++;
        }
        $item[0]["response"] = 1; 
        $item[1]["matching"] = $rows; 
        $item[2]["events"]=$dataArray;
        echo json_encode($item);
     }else{
        $item[0]["response"] = 0;
    }
    //echo json_encode($item, JSON_HEX_TAG| JSON_HEX_APOS | JSON_HEX_QUOT | JSON_HEX_AMP); //wasted code line

    mysql_close($conn);

?>

Got Output: Actual Output

Required Output: [{"shortid":"5","shorttitle":"\u0c38\u0c32\u0c4d\u0c2e\u0c3e\u0c28\u0c4d\u200c \u0c05\u0c21\u0c3f\u0c17\u0c3f\u0c28\u0c3e \u0c05\u0c35\u0c15\u0c3e\u0c36\u0c2e\u0c3f\u0c35\u0c4d\u0c35\u0c32\u0c47\u0c26\u0c41!"}]

I finally convert it at my client program decode to local language. The required output is supposed to be the default behaviour of json_encode. Despite most trials per php documentation (see the commented CODE lines that show my trials //wasted code line) the output continues to be in html entities except for English language.

My client programming language does not translate html entities.

Is there a php way to get the required output? I have tried every possible concept on stack overflow and in php documentation. Now I need help.

Please refer to my database language settings

Does the data in your database already contain HTML entities? — roeland
– roeland, Commented Oct 19, 2016 at 0:28

wazelin · Accepted Answer · 2016-10-18 09:28:44Z

4

Use json_encode($item, JSON_UNESCAPED_UNICODE);. It will encode multibyte characters literally. You can get more info here.

Actually it's strange your client side cannot handle escaped characters. What do you use exactly?

answered Oct 18, 2016 at 9:28

wazelin

7611 gold badge11 silver badges23 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

Surya Kameswara Rao Ravi Over a year ago

Thank you Wazelin for the prompt reply. I am able to temporarily use html_entity_decode. Not a real solution though. Please refer to the answer I had posted a minute ago and please comment.

Surya Kameswara Rao Ravi Over a year ago

On the client side I am using Swift 3 for iOS devices.

Surya Kameswara Rao Ravi · Accepted Answer · 2016-10-18 10:06:56Z

0

Thnak you Wazelin for the prompt reply. I had tried the JSON_UNESCAPED_UNICODE approach too earlier. But that output continued to be html entities.

A temporary fix to the problem I have incidentally tumbled in to using html_entity_decode.

I changed the code lines in while loop to:

     while ($i < $rows){    
       //fetch data  
       $row = mysql_fetch_array($result);

       //reality
       $dataArray[$i]["shortid"] = $row['Id'];

       //handle html entities of local language
       $dataArray[$i]["shorttitle"] = html_entity_decode($row['Title']);
       $i++;
    }

That had given the required output. But doing this to every single web service is not like an ideal solution. Quite strangely the default json_encode behaviour is very elusive in my case.

answered Oct 18, 2016 at 10:06

Surya Kameswara Rao Ravi

1,55614 silver badges9 bronze badges

2 Comments

Surya Kameswara Rao Ravi Over a year ago

Here is a stackoverflow link I came across that helped my temporary solution: stackoverflow.com/questions/14073009/…

wazelin Over a year ago

Are you sure that data stored in your DB is not already escaped?

Karol Gasienica · Accepted Answer · 2016-10-19 13:29:45Z

0

Check documentation: http://php.net/manual/en/function.json-encode.php

There are some options which allows you to encode your data correctly.

answered Oct 19, 2016 at 13:29

Karol Gasienica

2,91428 silver badges37 bronze badges

1 Comment

Jay Blanchard Over a year ago

While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

PHP json_encode is returning local language characters as html entities. Output needed in unicode

3 Answers 3

2 Comments

2 Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

3 Answers 3

2 Comments

2 Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related