preg_replace() does not replace: Â’

[rubing]

I am using php to read in a text file that is going to get inserted into my database.  Before insertion I do some minimal processing.  One of the things I want to do is replace this funny little character block: Â’ with just a good ol fashioned single quote: '

 

For some reason though it does not detect this entity so I am currently doing it with my text proccessor.

 

$pattern3='/Â’/';
	$replacement3 = '\'';
	$band2 = preg_replace($pattern3,$replacement3,$band2);
	$venue = preg_replace($pattern3,$replacement3,$venue);

[rubing]

I attempted to fix this by changing my character encoding to UTF-8.  Now, this character doesn't even get processed...it's like it isn't there at all.  I guess that's better than having ? all over.  Still, I'd like to get a single quote back! 

[effigy]

You're suffering from a "smart quote." These range from 0x91-0x94 in the Windows-1252 encoding. You can fix the UTF-8 document with

 

$str = preg_replace('/[\x91\x92]/u', "'", $str);
$str = preg_replace('/[\x93\x94]/u', '"', $str);

[rubing]

This is super strange.  When I issue the command to eliminate the smart quote the whole record just disappears from my table! 

 

Moreover the same thing happens if I use a notebook to do a search and replace for: Â’

 

I am completely stumped here!! ??? ???

[rubing]

That should read: from my html table.

[effigy]

Please provide the relevant code and data.

[rubing]

Sure...

 

here is an example of some of my data from the textfile i am processing:

 

Thursday, 2/7

Chris Keenan Back Nine:

CheemoÂ’s Creation BaileyÂ’s:

Eric Mcginty Barking Kudu:

Lettin Go Live BillyÂ’s:

Fiery Furnaces/Lonesome Spirit Device Bottletree:

 

And now here is the code i am using to process it:

 

<?php
include '../../lib/config.inc';
include '../../lib/opendb.inc';

$lines = file("source.txt");
foreach($lines as $single_line) 	
{

$value_arr = explode("\t", $single_line);

if (empty($value_arr[0])) //if the first column is empty
	 	{
	$DATE = $value_arr[1] ;  //assigns the date in the second column variable $DATE
			 }



$newline = "<br />";  //for formatting html output later on 			 
$var1=$value_arr[0]; //this is the band
$var2=$value_arr[1];  //this is the venue
$vara=html_entity_decode($var1);  //converts stupid html in band
$varb=html_entity_decode($var2);  //converts dumb html in venue
$band = trim($vara,",  ");  //trims space and comma from front and back
$venue = trim($varb,":, "); //trims all that and colon at end
$band = trim($band, " "); //trim extra space? untested, added 2/9/08
$venue = trim($venue, " ");


if ($band != $DATE)  //do not insert double date records
 {

	$timestamp1= strtotime($DATE);
	$date = date("Y-m-d", $timestamp1);
	// replace w/, with
	$pattern = '/w\//';
	$replacement = 'with ';
	$band2 = preg_replace($pattern,$replacement,$band);

	//replace smart quote with dumb one
	$band2 = preg_replace('/[\x91\x92]/u', "'", $band2);
	$venue = preg_replace('/[\x91\x92]/u', "'", $venue);		


	echo ereg_replace( ' +', '', $band2 );
	echo ereg_replace( ' +', '', $venue );  //trims double space

	//split the band arrays up
	$bandarray = split('[/,]',$band2);

	foreach($bandarray as $band3)
	{
		$source = "bw";
		// trying to delete first new code follows
		$band4=substr($band3, 0, 3);
		$venue4=substr($venue,0, 3);

		echo $newline;
		echo "$band4 | $venue4 | $date";

		$deliciousquery="DELETE FROM MusicEvents WHERE (Left(Band,3)='$band4' AND Left(Venue,3)='$venue4' AND Date='$date')";
		mysql_query($deliciousquery);

		if (!empty($band3)) //if the first column band is not empty
			{

			$query = "INSERT INTO MusicEvents (Source, Band, Venue, Date) VALUES ('$source','$band3', '$venue','$date')";
			mysql_query($query);
			// echo $band3 . "," . $venue . "," . $date, $newline;
			}
	}   

	}	
  
  }
  




mysql_close($conn);

?>

[effigy]

It works for me if I comment out the includes and querying. I would place an echo after each step to see where it goes astray.

[rubing]

Yes, I can get it to work and replace the smart quote with a dumb one, but for some reason thereafter these entries with the replaced quote will not be selected when i issue a mysql query.  strange

[rubing]

Correction.  These entries are not being inserted in my mysql table (I was looking at another type of smart quote that was inserted)  However, they echo just fine before insertion.  I wonder why these entries can't be inserted  ???

 

Maybe I should post this to the mysql board

[rubing]

OK, I hacked out a solution, which has me satisfied.  Instead of doing the find and replace in php, I just issue the command directly to mysql.  Works fine.

 

UPDATE MusicEvents SET Venue = replace( Venue, 'Â’', '\'' ) ;

[effigy]

All inserts should be passed through mysql_real_escape_string.

[rubing]

OH of Course!  I forgot that I was passing a single quote and that may wreak havoc!  Thanks effigy you're a real pro!