how to get special characters from mysql --> flash textfield

[dsdsdsdsd]

hello;

 

 

 

I have:

 

1) mysql database table ... collation set to 'utf8_general_ci'

 

2) a field within the table that includes a special character, ž

 

3) an AS2 Flash movie that uses my_load_vars.sendAndLoad( "my.php" , my_load_vars , "POST" ) ;

 

4) my.php ... mysql_query( "select the_column  from the_table" ) ... echo "&result=" . utf8_encode(  $row[ the_column ] ) ;

 

 

 

 

IN FLASH:

- if I run the script using my_load_vars.send( ... ) I can see in my browser that php is outputting the ž;

- however by the time I trace( my_load_vars.result ) it has been converted to a square ... Š

- I have been playing with the #include 'special_characters.txt' approach but without any success;

- I have the dynamic textfields in flash embedded and the special characters included as a part of the embedding;

 

 

 

any thoughts?

[dsdsdsdsd]

echo " Č  or  " . utf8_encode(  "Č" )  // outputs "C or C"