Examples of Using "mbstring" Functions

This section provides a tutorial example of using mbstring functions, mb_get_info(), mb_detect_encoding(), mb_strlen(), mb_convert_encoding(), etc.

I wrote the following script to test some of "mbstring" basic functions, MbStringBasic.php:

<?php 
#  MbStringBasic.php
#- Copyright (c) 2007-2019, HerongYang.com, All Rights Reserved.
# 
   print("\nCurrent settings:\n");
   $settings = mb_get_info();
   foreach ($settings as $k => $v) {
      print "   $k = ($v)\n";
   }

   print("\nEncoding detection:\n");
   $str = "Hello!";
   $coding = mb_detect_encoding($str);
   print("1. ".$coding." for (\x".bin2hex($str).")\n");

   $str = "\x00H\x00e\x00l\x00l\x00o\x00!";
   $coding = mb_detect_encoding($str);
   print("2. ".$coding." for (\x".bin2hex($str).")\n");

   $str = "\xC2\xA1Hola!";
   $coding = mb_detect_encoding($str);
   print("3. ".$coding." for (\x".bin2hex($str).")\n");

   $str = "\xE4\xBD\xA0\xE5\xA5\xBD!";
   $coding = mb_detect_encoding($str);
   print("4. ".$coding." for (\x".bin2hex($str).")\n");

   $str = "\xC4\xE3\xBA\xC3\xA3\xA1";
   $coding = mb_detect_encoding($str);
   print("5. ".$coding." for (\x".bin2hex($str).")\n");

   print("\nString length:\n");
   $str = "Hello!";
   $length = mb_strlen($str, "ASCII");
   print("1. ".$length." for (\x".bin2hex($str).")\n");

   $str = "\x00H\x00e\x00l\x00l\x00o\x00!";
   $length = mb_strlen($str, "UTF-16");
   print("2. ".$length." for (\x".bin2hex($str).")\n");

   $str = "\xC2\xA1Hola!";
   $length = mb_strlen($str, "UTF-8");
   print("3. ".$length." for (\x".bin2hex($str).")\n");

   $str = "\xE4\xBD\xA0\xE5\xA5\xBD!";
   $length = mb_strlen($str, "UTF-8");
   print("4. ".$length." for (\x".bin2hex($str).")\n");

   $str = "\xC4\xE3\xBA\xC3\xA3\xA1";
   $length = mb_strlen($str, "GB2312");
   print("5. ".$length." for (\x".bin2hex($str).")\n");

   print("\nString conversion - ASCII <--> UTF-16:\n");
   $str = "Hello!";
   print("   String in ASCII = (\x".bin2hex($str).")\n");
   $str = mb_convert_encoding($str, "UTF-16", "ASCII");
   print("   Converted to UTF-16 = (\x".bin2hex($str).")\n");
   $str = mb_convert_encoding($str, "ASCII", "UTF-16");
   print("   Converted to ASCII = (\x".bin2hex($str).")\n");

   print("\nString conversion - UTF-8 <--> UTF-16:\n");
   $str = "\xC2\xA1Hola!";
   print("   String in UTF-8 = (\x".bin2hex($str).")\n");
   $str = mb_convert_encoding($str, "UTF-16", "UTF-8");
   print("   Converted to UTF-16 = (\x".bin2hex($str).")\n");
   $str = mb_convert_encoding($str, "UTF-8", "UTF-16");
   print("   Converted to UTF-8 = (\x".bin2hex($str).")\n");

   print("\nString conversion - UTF-8 <--> GB2312:\n");
   $str = "\xE4\xBD\xA0\xE5\xA5\xBD!";
   print("   String in UTF-8 = (\x".bin2hex($str).")\n");
   $str = mb_convert_encoding($str, "GB2312", "UTF-8");
   print("   Converted to GB2312 = (\x".bin2hex($str).")\n");
   $str = mb_convert_encoding($str, "UTF-8", "GB2312");
   print("   Converted to UTF-8 = (\x".bin2hex($str).")\n");

   print("\nString conversion - GB2312 <--> UTF-16:\n");
   $str = "\xC4\xE3\xBA\xC3\xA3\xA1";
   print("   String in GB2312 = (\x".bin2hex($str).")\n");
   $str = mb_convert_encoding($str, "UTF-16", "GB2312");
   print("   Converted to UTF-16 = (\x".bin2hex($str).")\n");
   $str = mb_convert_encoding($str, "GB2312", "UTF-16");
   print("   Converted to GB2312 = (\x".bin2hex($str).")\n");
?>

I you run it directly, you will get:

Current settings:
   internal_encoding = (UTF-8)
   http_input = ()
   http_output = (pass)
   func_overload = (pass)

Encoding detection:
1. ASCII for (\x48656c6c6f21)
2. ASCII for (\x00480065006c006c006f0021)
3. UTF-8 for (\xc2a1486f6c6121)
4. UTF-8 for (\xe4bda0e5a5bd21)
5. UTF-8 for (\xc4e3bac3a3a1)

String length:
1. 6 for (\x48656c6c6f21)
2. 6 for (\x00480065006c006c006f0021)
3. 6 for (\xc2a1486f6c6121)
4. 3 for (\xe4bda0e5a5bd21)
5. 3 for (\xc4e3bac3a3a1)

String conversion - ASCII <--> UTF-16:
   String in ASCII = (\x48656c6c6f21)
   Converted to UTF-16 = (\x00480065006c006c006f0021)
   Converted to ASCII = (\x48656c6c6f21)

String conversion - UTF-8 <--> UTF-16:
   String in UTF-8 = (\xc2a1486f6c6121)
   Converted to UTF-16 = (\x00a10048006f006c00610021)
   Converted to UTF-8 = (\xc2a1486f6c6121)

String conversion - UTF-8 <--> GB2312:
   String in UTF-8 = (\xe4bda0e5a5bd21)
   Converted to GB2312 = (\xc4e3bac321)
   Converted to UTF-8 = (\xe4bda0e5a5bd21)

String conversion - GB2312 <--> UTF-16:
   String in GB2312 = (\xc4e3bac3a3a1)
   Converted to UTF-16 = (\x4f60597dff01)
   Converted to GB2312 = (\xc4e3bac3a3a1)

Some interesting notes about this test:

Last update: 2019.

Table of Contents

 About This Book

 Introduction and Installation of PHP 7.3

 PHP Script File Syntax

 PHP Data Types and Data Literals

 Variables, References, and Constants

 Expressions, Operations and Type Conversions

 Conditional Statements - "if" and "switch"

 Loop Statements - "while", "for", and "do ... while"

 Function Declaration, Arguments, and Return Values

 Arrays - Ordered Maps

 Introduction of Class and Object

 Integrating PHP with Apache Web Server

 Retrieving Information from HTTP Requests

 Creating and Managing Sessions in PHP Scripts

 Sending and Receiving Cookies in PHP Scripts

 Controlling HTTP Response Header Lines in PHP Scripts

 MySQL Server Connection and Access Functions

 Functions to Manage Directories, Files and Images

 SOAP Extension Function and Calling Web Services

 SOAP Server Functions and Examples

 Localization Overview of Web Applications

 Using Non-ASCII Characters in HTML Documents

 Using Non-ASCII Characters as PHP Script String Literals

 Receiving Non-ASCII Characters from Input Forms

"mbstring" Extension and Non-ASCII Encoding Management

 "mbstring" - Multi-Byte String Extension

 mb_convert_encoding() and Other mbstring Functions

Examples of Using "mbstring" Functions

 Managing HTTP Input and Output Encoding

 Managing Non-ASCII Character Strings with MySQL Servers

 Configuring and Sending out Emails

 Outdated Tutorials

 References

 Full Version in PDF/EPUB