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Iconv functions are often used in PHP when you have problems with character encoding. When you have non-latin chars in the text you work with, you might have problems with storing them, writing into database, etc. It becomes useful when you use several different encodings and when you need to store or output some text into a single place. So let’s go to PHP.net and take a look at all the functions that are related to iconv. It’s a pity, but you can’t find the list of encodings there. Just some examples are located under user contributed notes. But what to do if you need to have the list of encodings, to choose some to use? Just use the command line, with the following command: iconv -l . Let me paste the command output here:
437, 500, 500V1, 850, 851, 852, 855, 856, 857, 860, 861, 862, 863, 864, 865,
866, 866NAV, 869, 874, 904, 1026, 1046, 1047, 8859_1, 8859_2, 8859_3, 8859_4,
8859_5, 8859_6, 8859_7, 8859_8, 8859_9, 10646-1:1993, 10646-1:1993/UCS4,
ANSI_X3.4-1968, ANSI_X3.4-1986, ANSI_X3.4, ANSI_X3.110-1983, ANSI_X3.110,
ARABIC, ARABIC7, ARMSCII-8, ASCII, ASMO-708, ASMO_449, BALTIC, BIG-5,
BIG-FIVE, BIG5-HKSCS, BIG5, BIG5HKSCS, BIGFIVE, BS_4730, CA, CN-BIG5, CN-GB,
CN, CP-AR, CP-GR, CP-HU, CP037, CP038, CP273, CP274, CP275, CP278, CP280,
CP281, CP282, CP284, CP285, CP290, CP297, CP367, CP420, CP423, CP424, CP437,
CP500, CP737, CP775, CP813, CP819, CP850, CP851, CP852, CP855, CP856, CP857,
CP860, CP861, CP862, CP863, CP864, CP865, CP866, CP866NAV, CP868, CP869,
CP870, CP871, CP874, CP875, CP880, CP891, CP903, CP904, CP905, CP912, CP915,
CP916, CP918, CP920, CP922, CP930, CP932, CP933, CP935, CP936, CP937, CP939,
CP949, CP950, CP1004, CP1026, CP1046, CP1047, CP1070, CP1079, CP1081, CP1084,
CP1089, CP1124, CP1125, CP1129, CP1132, CP1133, CP1160, CP1161, CP1162,
CP1163, CP1164, CP1250, CP1251, CP1252, CP1253, CP1254, CP1255, CP1256,
CP1257, CP1258, CP1361, CP10007, CPIBM861, CSA7-1, CSA7-2, CSASCII,
CSA_T500-1983, CSA_T500, CSA_Z243.4-1985-1, CSA_Z243.4-1985-2,
CSA_Z243.419851, CSA_Z243.419852, CSDECMCS, CSEBCDICATDE, CSEBCDICATDEA,
CSEBCDICCAFR, CSEBCDICDKNO, CSEBCDICDKNOA, CSEBCDICES, CSEBCDICESA,
CSEBCDICESS, CSEBCDICFISE, CSEBCDICFISEA, CSEBCDICFR, CSEBCDICIT, CSEBCDICPT,
CSEBCDICUK, CSEBCDICUS, CSEUCKR, CSEUCPKDFMTJAPANESE, CSGB2312, CSHPROMAN8,
CSIBM037, CSIBM038, CSIBM273, CSIBM274, CSIBM275, CSIBM277, CSIBM278,
CSIBM280, CSIBM281, CSIBM284, CSIBM285, CSIBM290, CSIBM297, CSIBM420,
CSIBM423, CSIBM424, CSIBM500, CSIBM851, CSIBM855, CSIBM856, CSIBM857,
CSIBM860, CSIBM863, CSIBM864, CSIBM865, CSIBM866, CSIBM868, CSIBM869,
CSIBM870, CSIBM871, CSIBM880, CSIBM891, CSIBM903, CSIBM904, CSIBM905,
CSIBM918, CSIBM922, CSIBM930, CSIBM932, CSIBM933, CSIBM935, CSIBM937,
CSIBM939, CSIBM943, CSIBM1026, CSIBM1124, CSIBM1129, CSIBM1132, CSIBM1133,
CSIBM1160, CSIBM1161, CSIBM1163, CSIBM1164, CSIBM11621162,
CSISO4UNITEDKINGDOM, CSISO10SWEDISH, CSISO11SWEDISHFORNAMES,
CSISO14JISC6220RO, CSISO15ITALIAN, CSISO16PORTUGESE, CSISO17SPANISH,
CSISO18GREEK7OLD, CSISO19LATINGREEK, CSISO21GERMAN, CSISO25FRENCH,
CSISO27LATINGREEK1, CSISO49INIS, CSISO50INIS8, CSISO51INISCYRILLIC,
CSISO58GB1988, CSISO60DANISHNORWEGIAN, CSISO60NORWEGIAN1, CSISO61NORWEGIAN2,
CSISO69FRENCH, CSISO84PORTUGUESE2, CSISO85SPANISH2, CSISO86HUNGARIAN,
CSISO88GREEK7, CSISO89ASMO449, CSISO90, CSISO92JISC62991984B, CSISO99NAPLPS,
CSISO103T618BIT, CSISO111ECMACYRILLIC, CSISO121CANADIAN1, CSISO122CANADIAN2,
CSISO139CSN369103, CSISO141JUSIB1002, CSISO143IECP271, CSISO150,
CSISO150GREEKCCITT, CSISO151CUBA, CSISO153GOST1976874, CSISO646DANISH,
CSISO2022CN, CSISO2022JP, CSISO2022JP2, CSISO2022KR, CSISO2033,
CSISO5427CYRILLIC, CSISO5427CYRILLIC1981, CSISO5428GREEK, CSISO10367BOX,
CSISOLATIN1, CSISOLATIN2, CSISOLATIN3, CSISOLATIN4, CSISOLATIN5, CSISOLATIN6,
CSISOLATINARABIC, CSISOLATINCYRILLIC, CSISOLATINGREEK, CSISOLATINHEBREW,
CSKOI8R, CSKSC5636, CSMACINTOSH, CSNATSDANO, CSNATSSEFI, CSN_369103,
CSPC8CODEPAGE437, CSPC775BALTIC, CSPC850MULTILINGUAL, CSPC862LATINHEBREW,
CSPCP852, CSSHIFTJIS, CSUCS4, CSUNICODE, CSWINDOWS31J, CUBA, CWI-2, CWI,
CYRILLIC, DE, DEC-MCS, DEC, DECMCS, DIN_66003, DK, DS2089, DS_2089, E13B,
EBCDIC-AT-DE-A, EBCDIC-AT-DE, EBCDIC-BE, EBCDIC-BR, EBCDIC-CA-FR,
EBCDIC-CP-AR1, EBCDIC-CP-AR2, EBCDIC-CP-BE, EBCDIC-CP-CA, EBCDIC-CP-CH,
EBCDIC-CP-DK, EBCDIC-CP-ES, EBCDIC-CP-FI, EBCDIC-CP-FR, EBCDIC-CP-GB,
EBCDIC-CP-GR, EBCDIC-CP-HE, EBCDIC-CP-IS, EBCDIC-CP-IT, EBCDIC-CP-NL,
EBCDIC-CP-NO, EBCDIC-CP-ROECE, EBCDIC-CP-SE, EBCDIC-CP-TR, EBCDIC-CP-US,
EBCDIC-CP-WT, EBCDIC-CP-YU, EBCDIC-CYRILLIC, EBCDIC-DK-NO-A, EBCDIC-DK-NO,
EBCDIC-ES-A, EBCDIC-ES-S, EBCDIC-ES, EBCDIC-FI-SE-A, EBCDIC-FI-SE, EBCDIC-FR,
EBCDIC-GREEK, EBCDIC-INT, EBCDIC-INT1, EBCDIC-IS-FRISS, EBCDIC-IT,
EBCDIC-JP-E, EBCDIC-JP-KANA, EBCDIC-PT, EBCDIC-UK, EBCDIC-US, EBCDICATDE,
EBCDICATDEA, EBCDICCAFR, EBCDICDKNO, EBCDICDKNOA, EBCDICES, EBCDICESA,
EBCDICESS, EBCDICFISE, EBCDICFISEA, EBCDICFR, EBCDICISFRISS, EBCDICIT,
EBCDICPT, EBCDICUK, EBCDICUS, ECMA-114, ECMA-118, ECMA-128, ECMA-CYRILLIC,
ECMACYRILLIC, ELOT_928, ES, ES2, EUC-CN, EUC-JISX0213, EUC-JP-MS, EUC-JP,
EUC-KR, EUC-TW, EUCCN, EUCJP-MS, EUCJP-OPEN, EUCJP-WIN, EUCJP, EUCKR, EUCTW,
FI, FR, GB, GB2312, GB13000, GB18030, GBK, GB_1988-80, GB_198880,
GEORGIAN-ACADEMY, GEORGIAN-PS, GOST_19768-74, GOST_19768, GOST_1976874,
GREEK-CCITT, GREEK, GREEK7-OLD, GREEK7, GREEK7OLD, GREEK8, GREEKCCITT,
HEBREW, HP-ROMAN8, HPROMAN8, HU, IBM-856, IBM-922, IBM-930, IBM-932, IBM-933,
IBM-935, IBM-937, IBM-939, IBM-943, IBM-1046, IBM-1047, IBM-1124, IBM-1129,
IBM-1132, IBM-1133, IBM-1160, IBM-1161, IBM-1162, IBM-1163, IBM-1164, IBM037,
IBM038, IBM256, IBM273, IBM274, IBM275, IBM277, IBM278, IBM280, IBM281,
IBM284, IBM285, IBM290, IBM297, IBM367, IBM420, IBM423, IBM424, IBM437,
IBM500, IBM775, IBM813, IBM819, IBM848, IBM850, IBM851, IBM852, IBM855,
IBM856, IBM857, IBM860, IBM861, IBM862, IBM863, IBM864, IBM865, IBM866,
IBM866NAV, IBM868, IBM869, IBM870, IBM871, IBM874, IBM875, IBM880, IBM891,
IBM903, IBM904, IBM905, IBM912, IBM915, IBM916, IBM918, IBM920, IBM922,
IBM930, IBM932, IBM933, IBM935, IBM937, IBM939, IBM943, IBM1004, IBM1026,
IBM1046, IBM1047, IBM1089, IBM1124, IBM1129, IBM1132, IBM1133, IBM1160,
IBM1161, IBM1162, IBM1163, IBM1164, IEC_P27-1, IEC_P271, INIS-8,
INIS-CYRILLIC, INIS, INIS8, INISCYRILLIC, ISIRI-3342, ISIRI3342,
ISO-2022-CN-EXT, ISO-2022-CN, ISO-2022-JP-2, ISO-2022-JP-3, ISO-2022-JP,
ISO-2022-KR, ISO-8859-1, ISO-8859-2, ISO-8859-3, ISO-8859-4, ISO-8859-5,
ISO-8859-6, ISO-8859-7, ISO-8859-8, ISO-8859-9, ISO-8859-10, ISO-8859-11,
ISO-8859-13, ISO-8859-14, ISO-8859-15, ISO-8859-16, ISO-10646,
ISO-10646/UCS2, ISO-10646/UCS4, ISO-10646/UTF-8, ISO-10646/UTF8, ISO-CELTIC,
ISO-IR-4, ISO-IR-6, ISO-IR-8-1, ISO-IR-9-1, ISO-IR-10, ISO-IR-11, ISO-IR-14,
ISO-IR-15, ISO-IR-16, ISO-IR-17, ISO-IR-18, ISO-IR-19, ISO-IR-21, ISO-IR-25,
ISO-IR-27, ISO-IR-37, ISO-IR-49, ISO-IR-50, ISO-IR-51, ISO-IR-54, ISO-IR-55,
ISO-IR-57, ISO-IR-60, ISO-IR-61, ISO-IR-69, ISO-IR-84, ISO-IR-85, ISO-IR-86,
ISO-IR-88, ISO-IR-89, ISO-IR-90, ISO-IR-92, ISO-IR-98, ISO-IR-99, ISO-IR-100,
ISO-IR-101, ISO-IR-103, ISO-IR-109, ISO-IR-110, ISO-IR-111, ISO-IR-121,
ISO-IR-122, ISO-IR-126, ISO-IR-127, ISO-IR-138, ISO-IR-139, ISO-IR-141,
ISO-IR-143, ISO-IR-144, ISO-IR-148, ISO-IR-150, ISO-IR-151, ISO-IR-153,
ISO-IR-155, ISO-IR-156, ISO-IR-157, ISO-IR-166, ISO-IR-179, ISO-IR-193,
ISO-IR-197, ISO-IR-199, ISO-IR-203, ISO-IR-209, ISO-IR-226, ISO646-CA,
ISO646-CA2, ISO646-CN, ISO646-CU, ISO646-DE, ISO646-DK, ISO646-ES,
ISO646-ES2, ISO646-FI, ISO646-FR, ISO646-FR1, ISO646-GB, ISO646-HU,
ISO646-IT, ISO646-JP-OCR-B, ISO646-JP, ISO646-KR, ISO646-NO, ISO646-NO2,
ISO646-PT, ISO646-PT2, ISO646-SE, ISO646-SE2, ISO646-US, ISO646-YU,
ISO2022CN, ISO2022CNEXT, ISO2022JP, ISO2022JP2, ISO2022KR, ISO6937,
ISO8859-1, ISO8859-2, ISO8859-3, ISO8859-4, ISO8859-5, ISO8859-6, ISO8859-7,
ISO8859-8, ISO8859-9, ISO8859-10, ISO8859-11, ISO8859-13, ISO8859-14,
ISO8859-15, ISO8859-16, ISO88591, ISO88592, ISO88593, ISO88594, ISO88595,
ISO88596, ISO88597, ISO88598, ISO88599, ISO885910, ISO885911, ISO885913,
ISO885914, ISO885915, ISO885916, ISO_646.IRV:1991, ISO_2033-1983, ISO_2033,
ISO_5427-EXT, ISO_5427, ISO_5427:1981, ISO_5427EXT, ISO_5428, ISO_5428:1980,
ISO_6937-2, ISO_6937-2:1983, ISO_6937, ISO_6937:1992, ISO_8859-1,
ISO_8859-1:1987, ISO_8859-2, ISO_8859-2:1987, ISO_8859-3, ISO_8859-3:1988,
ISO_8859-4, ISO_8859-4:1988, ISO_8859-5, ISO_8859-5:1988, ISO_8859-6,
ISO_8859-6:1987, ISO_8859-7, ISO_8859-7:1987, ISO_8859-7:2003, ISO_8859-8,
ISO_8859-8:1988, ISO_8859-9, ISO_8859-9:1989, ISO_8859-10, ISO_8859-10:1992,
ISO_8859-14, ISO_8859-14:1998, ISO_8859-15, ISO_8859-15:1998, ISO_8859-16,
ISO_8859-16:2001, ISO_9036, ISO_10367-BOX, ISO_10367BOX, ISO_69372, IT,
JIS_C6220-1969-RO, JIS_C6229-1984-B, JIS_C62201969RO, JIS_C62291984B, JOHAB,
JP-OCR-B, JP, JS, JUS_I.B1.002, KOI-7, KOI-8, KOI8-R, KOI8-T, KOI8-U, KOI8,
KOI8R, KOI8U, KSC5636, L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, L6, L7, L8, L10, LATIN-9,
LATIN-GREEK-1, LATIN-GREEK, LATIN1, LATIN2, LATIN3, LATIN4, LATIN5, LATIN6,
LATIN7, LATIN8, LATIN10, LATINGREEK, LATINGREEK1, MAC-CYRILLIC, MAC-IS,
MAC-SAMI, MAC-UK, MAC, MACCYRILLIC, MACINTOSH, MACIS, MACUK, MACUKRAINIAN,
MS-ANSI, MS-ARAB, MS-CYRL, MS-EE, MS-GREEK, MS-HEBR, MS-MAC-CYRILLIC,
MS-TURK, MS932, MS936, MSCP949, MSCP1361, MSMACCYRILLIC, MSZ_7795.3,
MS_KANJI, NAPLPS, NATS-DANO, NATS-SEFI, NATSDANO, NATSSEFI, NC_NC0010,
NC_NC00-10, NC_NC00-10:81, NF_Z_62-010, NF_Z_62-010_(1973), NF_Z_62-010_1973,
NF_Z_62010, NF_Z_62010_1973, NO, NO2, NS_4551-1, NS_4551-2, NS_45511,
NS_45512, OS2LATIN1, OSF00010001, OSF00010002, OSF00010003, OSF00010004,
OSF00010005, OSF00010006, OSF00010007, OSF00010008, OSF00010009, OSF0001000A,
OSF00010020, OSF00010100, OSF00010101, OSF00010102, OSF00010104, OSF00010105,
OSF00010106, OSF00030010, OSF0004000A, OSF0005000A, OSF05010001, OSF100201A4,
OSF100201A8, OSF100201B5, OSF100201F4, OSF100203B5, OSF1002011C, OSF1002011D,
OSF1002035D, OSF1002035E, OSF1002035F, OSF1002036B, OSF1002037B, OSF10010001,
OSF10020025, OSF10020111, OSF10020115, OSF10020116, OSF10020118, OSF10020122,
OSF10020129, OSF10020352, OSF10020354, OSF10020357, OSF10020359, OSF10020360,
OSF10020364, OSF10020365, OSF10020366, OSF10020367, OSF10020370, OSF10020387,
OSF10020388, OSF10020396, OSF10020402, OSF10020417, PT, PT2, PT154, R8,
RK1048, ROMAN8, RUSCII, SE, SE2, SEN_850200_B, SEN_850200_C, SHIFT-JIS,
SHIFT_JIS, SHIFT_JISX0213, SJIS-OPEN, SJIS-WIN, SJIS, SS636127,
STRK1048-2002, ST_SEV_358-88, T.61-8BIT, T.61, T.618BIT, TCVN-5712, TCVN,
TCVN5712-1, TCVN5712-1:1993, TIS-620, TIS620-0, TIS620.2529-1, TIS620.2533-0,
TIS620, TS-5881, TSCII, UCS-2, UCS-2BE, UCS-2LE, UCS-4, UCS-4BE, UCS-4LE,
UCS2, UCS4, UHC, UJIS, UK, UNICODE, UNICODEBIG, UNICODELITTLE, US-ASCII, US,
UTF-7, UTF-8, UTF-16, UTF-16BE, UTF-16LE, UTF-32, UTF-32BE, UTF-32LE, UTF7,
UTF8, UTF16, UTF16BE, UTF16LE, UTF32, UTF32BE, UTF32LE, VISCII, WCHAR_T,
WIN-SAMI-2, WINBALTRIM, WINDOWS-31J, WINDOWS-874, WINDOWS-936, WINDOWS-1250,
WINDOWS-1251, WINDOWS-1252, WINDOWS-1253, WINDOWS-1254, WINDOWS-1255,
WINDOWS-1256, WINDOWS-1257, WINDOWS-1258, WINSAMI2, WS2, YU

Now all you need is just to select one of them that suits your needs and use them. Note, that if you try to use a wrong encoding, you won’t get any result, but won’t also get any error messages. So be careful when selecting encodings from the list.

In order to use iconv in PHP, you should check your configure line and recompile PHP if necessary. It should look like:

And especially iconv section:

If you don’t have all of this all you need is just to recompile PHP with –with-iconv