Set character set using MySQLi

Question

I\'m fetching data in Arabic from MySQL tables with MySQLi. So I usually use this in procedural style:

mysql_query(\"SET NAMES \'utf8\'\"); 
mysql_query(\'SE         


        

Answer 1

It's the same:

$mysqli->query("SET NAMES 'utf8'");

From the manual:

This is the preferred way to change the charset. Using mysqli::query() to execute SET NAMES .. is not recommended.

$mysqli->set_charset("utf8"); is just enough, let the mysqli db driver do the thing for you.