Rhombus with a question mark

Discussion in 'MySQL' started by chris30, Dec 11, 2010.

  1. #1
    Some of my database entries come up as a square or a rhombus with a question mark in it. Usually where the apostrophe should be in a html link. This is causing lots of broken links.
    How can I do a search for these in mysql?
    -Chris
     
    chris30, Dec 11, 2010 IP
  2. iama_gamer

    iama_gamer Active Member

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    #2
    it is possible that you have chosen a different collation. If you are using php to insert these values make sure you use the escape character \ before the special characters
     
    iama_gamer, Dec 14, 2010 IP
  3. jestep

    jestep Prominent Member

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    #3
    If someone is pasting from MS word or any MS program with curly quotes and apostrophes it often breaks character sets. This is the most common reason I've seen for exactly what you are experiencing. Long dashes and ellipsis are other common MS character set killers.

    Otherwise it normally happens when you switch a database's or table's character sets / collation, but don't modify the actual data.
     
    jestep, Dec 15, 2010 IP