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Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2021 19:43:12 +0000
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Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] What should we do with utf8_encode and utf8_decode?
From: rowan.collins@gmail.com (Rowan Tommins)

On 22/03/2021 18:18, Chase Peeler wrote:
>
> Even if it is by accident, removing or changing the behavior of the 
> function is guaranteed to make something that currently works (by 
> skill or by luck) and risk it no longer working.


This is absolutely true. However, at some point you have to draw the 
line between supported use cases, and requests to re-enable spacebar 
heating: https://xkcd.com/1172/

I think using utf8_encode to store binary data in a text column crosses 
that line: the code was added because of a misunderstanding of the 
function, it works by accident, and there are plenty of better ways to 
solve the actual problem.

Just to be clear, the trick Aleksander and Alexandru stumbled on doesn't 
just work for "corrupted UTF-8"; you could store a JPEG in a text column 
by using utf8_encode(file_get_contents($image_file)). It's probably best 
not to, though.

I *also* agree that users should have a clear guide to how to replace 
their current usages. Fortunately, there are at least 4 other ways of 
writing this functionality in PHP (iconv, mbstring, intl, and the 
Symfony polyfill).

Regards,

-- 
Rowan Tommins
[IMSoP]