How to save a text string with line breaks to a MySQL database text field using PHP?

Question

In SugarCRM I have a Textarea field that I am trying to save data to with line breaks.

IF I insert <br> tags, then they show up as text break tags. If I try something like \n then it also shows up as text.

Now if I go into SugarCRM and edit a record, I can type in text and make a linebreak. Save the record and view it again and the line breaks show up as I would want them to!

I am trying to save data with line breaks to the same field from a remote API script.

I went into the Database with phpMyAdmin to see how the field looked and here it is...

The first 3 lines have proper line breaks which I made inside SugarCRM editing a record manually.

The line after are from my remote API script where I had saved <br> tags into the string.

Line 1 Text: ghfghdf
Line 1 Color: #0064FF
Line 1 Font: Architect
Line 2 Text: fghfg<br /> Line 2 Color: #9F00FF<br /> Line 2 Font: Belshaw<br /> Line 3 Text: fghdhdhdf<br /> Line 3 Color: #FF5000<br /> Line 3 Font: Benguiat<br />

Any ideas how I can make my PHP code save a string to this field and have line breaks when viewing it in the database just like the first 3 lines above are?

I google a little and TinyMCE can be used in SugarCRM so i think that would solve your problem with any text format — Aleksandar Miladinovic
– Aleksandar Miladinovic, Commented Apr 18, 2015 at 23:22
@AleksandarMiladinovic Thanks for the suggestion and research however I am unable to change the filed type in SugarCRM for this case so I will have to instead modify the output with custom SugarCRM code it seems — JasonDavis
– JasonDavis, Commented Apr 19, 2015 at 1:06
@dbinns66 I am actually inserting data using the API instead of returning it. SO using PHP I save data into SugarCRM and then view that data inside the actual SugarCRM application when editing and viewing fields. It seems I will simply have to do some custom code in SUgar for the "view" portion since I cannot modify how it is saved. — JasonDavis
– JasonDavis, Commented Apr 19, 2015 at 1:07

Community · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-20 09:12:55Z

7

As suggested in comments, this kind of issue tends to be related to the fact that in single quoted strings :

To specify a literal single quote, escape it with a backslash (\). To specify a literal backslash, double it (\\).

All other instances of backslash will be treated as a literal backslash: this means that the other escape sequences you might be used to, such as \r or \n, will be output literally as specified rather than having any special meaning.

but in double quoted strings :

PHP will interpret more escape sequences for special characters

sequence : \n then having the meaning of linefeed (LF or 0x0A (10) in ASCII)

So echo '\n' will print \n while echo "\n" will allow you to have a new line as excepted.

And of course, you also can use PHP_EOL to make it cross OS.

edited Jun 20, 2020 at 9:12

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answered Apr 19, 2015 at 9:52

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Sibin John Mattappallil · Accepted Answer · 2017-01-03 16:38:52Z

1

Use PHP_EOL instead of <br/> or \n

e.g.

$array = array("a","b");
$string = implode(PHP_EOL , $array);

answered Jan 3, 2017 at 16:38

Sibin John Mattappallil

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MrTechie · Accepted Answer · 2015-04-18 23:21:00Z

0

When attempting to store data that has line breaks, you want to use the nl2br() function inside of php before you store the data. I had the same issues before and after months and months of trying different things to get it to work right on a client's site, it was on SO that I found the answer one day.

The key is to convert the data by using nl2br() before you store it.

Hope this helps.

answered Apr 18, 2015 at 23:21

MrTechie

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2 Comments

JasonDavis Over a year ago

Hi, thanks for the answer however if I am to use nl2br() then it will add <br> tags to my string which is not what I want. In SUgarCRM when you view a record, if it has <br> tags in the string then it shows the tags instead of making them function.

Stijn de Witt Over a year ago

"The key is to convert the data by using nl2br() before you store it.". No. Don't do that. You will regret it later. What if you want to output this text in another format? Put it in a PDF, send it over mail, read and display it in an Android app etc etc? Instead convert the data before you display it. Always store data in it's most generic form. As text. Only add markup, escape, force text to uppercase etc etc before displaying it. This allows you to use the right markup and escapes for the particular display format instead of mixing it in the data.

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