An apostrophe is rendering as â€tm. What PHP function will display it as ' ? something_Decode?

Question

I'm grabbing some tweets and printing them out on my site and curly apostrophes are being rendered as "â€tm". This is not good. What php function should I run the string through to get these weird characters to display as something closer to '?

Answer 1

I battled with this for almost a day and then found that this function will work 100% of the time. It works with utf-8 and unicode and converts characters that are beyond the base ascii set into their html entities. It's good for cleaning up MS Word rubbish.

function filterText($text) 
{ 

    //UTF-8 filter
    $conv = array(
          "\xC2\xA0" => ' ',
          "\xC2\xA1" => '¡',
          "\xC2\xA2" => '¢',
          "\xC2\xA3" => '£',
          "\xC2\xA4" => '¤',
          "\xC2\xA5" => '¥',
          "\xC2\xA6" => '¦',
          "\xC2\xA7" => '§',
          "\xC2\xA8" => '¨',
          "\xC2\xA9" => '©',
          "\xC2\xAA" => 'ª',
          "\xC2\xAB" => '«',
          "\xC2\xAC" => '¬',
          "\xC2\xAD" => '­',
          "\xC2\xAE" => '®',
          "\xC2\xAF" => '¯',
          "\xC2\xB0" => '°',
          "\xC2\xB1" => '±',
          "\xC2\xB2" => '²',
          "\xC2\xB3" => '³',
          "\xC2\xB4" => '´',
          "\xC2\xB5" => 'µ',
          "\xC2\xB6" => '¶',
          "\xC2\xB7" => '·',
          "\xC2\xB8" => '¸',
          "\xC2\xB9" => '¹',
          "\xC2\xBA" => 'º',
          "\xC2\xBB" => '»',
          "\xC2\xBC" => '¼',
          "\xC2\xBD" => '½',
          "\xC2\xBE" => '¾',
          "\xC2\xBF" => '¿',
          "\xC3\x80" => 'À',
          "\xC3\x81" => 'Á',
          "\xC3\x82" => 'Â',
          "\xC3\x83" => 'Ã',
          "\xC3\x84" => 'Ä',
          "\xC3\x85" => 'Å',
          "\xC3\x86" => 'Æ',
          "\xC3\x87" => 'Ç',
          "\xC3\x88" => 'È',
          "\xC3\x89" => 'É',
          "\xC3\x8A" => 'Ê',
          "\xC3\x8B" => 'Ë',
          "\xC3\x8C" => 'Ì',
          "\xC3\x8D" => 'Í',
          "\xC3\x8E" => 'Î',
          "\xC3\x8F" => 'Ï',
          "\xC3\x90" => 'Ð',
          "\xC3\x91" => 'Ñ',
          "\xC3\x92" => 'Ò',
          "\xC3\x93" => 'Ó',
          "\xC3\x94" => 'Ô',
          "\xC3\x95" => 'Õ',
          "\xC3\x96" => 'Ö',
          "\xC3\x97" => '×',
          "\xC3\x98" => 'Ø',
          "\xC3\x99" => 'Ù',
          "\xC3\x9A" => 'Ú',
          "\xC3\x9B" => 'Û',
          "\xC3\x9C" => 'Ü',
          "\xC3\x9D" => 'Ý',
          "\xC3\x9E" => 'Þ',
          "\xC3\x9F" => 'ß',
          "\xC3\xA0" => 'à',
          "\xC3\xA1" => 'á',
          "\xC3\xA2" => 'â',
          "\xC3\xA3" => 'ã',
          "\xC3\xA4" => 'ä',
          "\xC3\xA5" => 'å',
          "\xC3\xA6" => 'æ',
          "\xC3\xA7" => 'ç',
          "\xC3\xA8" => 'è',
          "\xC3\xA9" => 'é',
          "\xC3\xAA" => 'ê',
          "\xC3\xAB" => 'ë',
          "\xC3\xAC" => 'ì',
          "\xC3\xAD" => 'í',
          "\xC3\xAE" => 'î',
          "\xC3\xAF" => 'ï',
          "\xC3\xB0" => 'ð',
          "\xC3\xB1" => 'ñ',
          "\xC3\xB2" => 'ò',
          "\xC3\xB3" => 'ó',
          "\xC3\xB4" => 'ô',
          "\xC3\xB5" => 'õ',
          "\xC3\xB6" => 'ö',
          "\xC3\xB7" => '÷',
          "\xC3\xB8" => 'ø',
          "\xC3\xB9" => 'ù',
          "\xC3\xBA" => 'ú',
          "\xC3\xBB" => 'û',
          "\xC3\xBC" => 'ü',
          "\xC3\xBD" => 'ý',
          "\xC3\xBE" => 'þ',
          "\xC3\xBF" => 'ÿ',
          // Latin Extended-A
          "\xC5\x92" => 'Œ',
          "\xC5\x93" => 'œ',
          "\xC5\xA0" => 'Š',
          "\xC5\xA1" => 'š',
          "\xC5\xB8" => 'Ÿ',
          // Spacing Modifier Letters
          "\xCB\x86" => 'ˆ',
          "\xCB\x9C" => '˜',
          // General Punctuation
          "\xE2\x80\x82" => ' ',
          "\xE2\x80\x83" => ' ',
          "\xE2\x80\x89" => ' ',
          "\xE2\x80\x8C" => '‌',
          "\xE2\x80\x8D" => '‍',
          "\xE2\x80\x8E" => '‎',
          "\xE2\x80\x8F" => '‏',
          "\xE2\x80\x93" => '–',
          "\xE2\x80\x94" => '—',
          "\xE2\x80\x98" => '‘',
          "\xE2\x80\x99" => '’',
          "\xE2\x80\x9A" => '‚',
          "\xE2\x80\x9C" => '“',
          "\xE2\x80\x9D" => '”',
          "\xE2\x80\x9E" => '„',
          "\xE2\x80\xA0" => '†',
          "\xE2\x80\xA1" => '‡',
          "\xE2\x80\xB0" => '‰',
          "\xE2\x80\xB9" => '‹',
          "\xE2\x80\xBA" => '›',
          "\xE2\x82\xAC" => '€',
          // Latin Extended-B
          "\xC6\x92" => 'ƒ',
          // Greek
          "\xCE\x91" => 'Α',
          "\xCE\x92" => 'Β',
          "\xCE\x93" => 'Γ',
          "\xCE\x94" => 'Δ',
          "\xCE\x95" => 'Ε',
          "\xCE\x96" => 'Ζ',
          "\xCE\x97" => 'Η',
          "\xCE\x98" => 'Θ',
          "\xCE\x99" => 'Ι',
          "\xCE\x9A" => 'Κ',
          "\xCE\x9B" => 'Λ',
          "\xCE\x9C" => 'Μ',
          "\xCE\x9D" => 'Ν',
          "\xCE\x9E" => 'Ξ',
          "\xCE\x9F" => 'Ο',
          "\xCE\xA0" => 'Π',
          "\xCE\xA1" => 'Ρ',
          "\xCE\xA3" => 'Σ',
          "\xCE\xA4" => 'Τ',
          "\xCE\xA5" => 'Υ',
          "\xCE\xA6" => 'Φ',
          "\xCE\xA7" => 'Χ',
          "\xCE\xA8" => 'Ψ',
          "\xCE\xA9" => 'Ω',
          "\xCE\xB1" => 'α',
          "\xCE\xB2" => 'β',
          "\xCE\xB3" => 'γ',
          "\xCE\xB4" => 'δ',
          "\xCE\xB5" => 'ε',
          "\xCE\xB6" => 'ζ',
          "\xCE\xB7" => 'η',
          "\xCE\xB8" => 'θ',
          "\xCE\xB9" => 'ι',
          "\xCE\xBA" => 'κ',
          "\xCE\xBB" => 'λ',
          "\xCE\xBC" => 'μ',
          "\xCE\xBD" => 'ν',
          "\xCE\xBE" => 'ξ',
          "\xCE\xBF" => 'ο',
          "\xCF\x80" => 'π',
          "\xCF\x81" => 'ρ',
          "\xCF\x82" => 'ς',
          "\xCF\x83" => 'σ',
          "\xCF\x84" => 'τ',
          "\xCF\x85" => 'υ',
          "\xCF\x86" => 'φ',
          "\xCF\x87" => 'χ',
          "\xCF\x88" => 'ψ',
          "\xCF\x89" => 'ω',
          "\xCF\x91" => 'ϑ',
          "\xCF\x92" => 'ϒ',
          "\xCF\x96" => 'ϖ',
          // General Punctuation
          "\xE2\x80\xA2" => '•',
          "\xE2\x80\xA6" => '…',
          "\xE2\x80\xB2" => '′',
          "\xE2\x80\xB3" => '″',
          "\xE2\x80\xBE" => '‾',
          "\xE2\x81\x84" => '⁄',
          // Letterlike Symbols
          "\xE2\x84\x98" => '℘',
          "\xE2\x84\x91" => 'ℑ',
          "\xE2\x84\x9C" => 'ℜ',
          "\xE2\x84\xA2" => '™',
          "\xE2\x84\xB5" => 'ℵ',
          // Arrows
          "\xE2\x86\x90" => '←',
          "\xE2\x86\x91" => '↑',
          "\xE2\x86\x92" => '→',
          "\xE2\x86\x93" => '↓',
          "\xE2\x86\x94" => '↔',
          "\xE2\x86\xB5" => '↵',
          "\xE2\x87\x90" => '⇐',
          "\xE2\x87\x91" => '⇑',
          "\xE2\x87\x92" => '⇒',
          "\xE2\x87\x93" => '⇓',
          "\xE2\x87\x94" => '⇔',
          // Mathematical Operators
          "\xE2\x88\x80" => '∀',
          "\xE2\x88\x82" => '∂',
          "\xE2\x88\x83" => '∃',
          "\xE2\x88\x85" => '∅',
          "\xE2\x88\x87" => '∇',
          "\xE2\x88\x88" => '∈',
          "\xE2\x88\x89" => '∉',
          "\xE2\x88\x8B" => '∋',
          "\xE2\x88\x8F" => '∏',
          "\xE2\x88\x91" => '∑',
          "\xE2\x88\x92" => '−',
          "\xE2\x88\x97" => '∗',
          "\xE2\x88\x9A" => '√',
          "\xE2\x88\x9D" => '∝',
          "\xE2\x88\x9E" => '∞',
          "\xE2\x88\xA0" => '∠',
          "\xE2\x88\xA7" => '∧',
          "\xE2\x88\xA8" => '∨',
          "\xE2\x88\xA9" => '∩',
          "\xE2\x88\xAA" => '∪',
          "\xE2\x88\xAB" => '∫',
          "\xE2\x88\xB4" => '∴',
          "\xE2\x88\xBC" => '∼',
          "\xE2\x89\x85" => '≅',
          "\xE2\x89\x88" => '≈',
          "\xE2\x89\xA0" => '≠',
          "\xE2\x89\xA1" => '≡',
          "\xE2\x89\xA4" => '≤',
          "\xE2\x89\xA5" => '≥',
          "\xE2\x8A\x82" => '⊂',
          "\xE2\x8A\x83" => '⊃',
          "\xE2\x8A\x84" => '⊄',
          "\xE2\x8A\x86" => '⊆',
          "\xE2\x8A\x87" => '⊇',
          "\xE2\x8A\x95" => '⊕',
          "\xE2\x8A\x97" => '⊗',
          "\xE2\x8A\xA5" => '⊥',
          "\xE2\x8B\x85" => '⋅',
          // Miscellaneous Technical
          "\xE2\x8C\x88" => '⌈',
          "\xE2\x8C\x89" => '⌉',
          "\xE2\x8C\x8A" => '⌊',
          "\xE2\x8C\x8B" => '⌋',
          "\xE2\x8C\xA9" => '⟨',
          "\xE2\x8C\xAA" => '⟩',
          // Geometric Shapes
          "\xE2\x97\x8A" => '◊',
          // Miscellaneous Symbols
          "\xE2\x99\xA0" => '♠',
          "\xE2\x99\xA3" => '♣',
          "\xE2\x99\xA5" => '♥',
          "\xE2\x99\xA6" => '♦'
   );

    $string = strtr($text, $conv); 

    //now translate any unicode stuff... 
    $conv = array(
        chr(128) => "€",
        chr(130) => "‚",
        chr(131) => "ƒ",
        chr(132) => "„",
        chr(133) => "…",
        chr(134) => "†",
        chr(135) => "‡",
        chr(136) => "ˆ",
        chr(137) => "‰",
        chr(138) => "Š",
        chr(139) => "‹",
        chr(140) => "Œ",
        chr(145) => "‘",
        chr(146) => "’",
        chr(147) => "“",
        chr(148) => "”",
        chr(149) => "•",
        chr(150) => "–",
        chr(151) => "—",
        chr(152) => "˜",
        chr(153) => "™",
        chr(154) => "š",
        chr(155) => "›",
        chr(156) => "œ",
        chr(159) => "ÿ",
        chr(160) => " ",
        chr(161) => "¡",
        chr(162) => "¢",
        chr(163) => "£",
        chr(164) => "¤",
        chr(165) => "¥",
        chr(166) => "¦",
        chr(167) => "§",
        chr(168) => "¨",
        chr(169) => "©",
        chr(170) => "ª",
        chr(171) => "«",
        chr(172) => "¬",
        chr(173) => "­",
        chr(174) => "®",
        chr(175) => "¯",
        chr(176) => "°",
        chr(177) => "±",
        chr(178) => "²",
        chr(179) => "³",
        chr(180) => "´",
        chr(181) => "µ",
        chr(182) => "¶",
        chr(183) => "·",
        chr(184) => "¸",
        chr(185) => "¹",
        chr(186) => "º",
        chr(187) => "»",
        chr(188) => "¼",
        chr(189) => "½",
        chr(190) => "¾",
        chr(191) => "¿",
        chr(192) => "À",
        chr(193) => "Á",
        chr(194) => "Â",
        chr(195) => "Ã",
        chr(196) => "Ä",
        chr(197) => "Å",
        chr(198) => "Æ",
        chr(199) => "Ç",
        chr(200) => "È",
        chr(201) => "É",
        chr(202) => "Ê",
        chr(203) => "Ë",
        chr(204) => "Ì",
        chr(205) => "Í",
        chr(206) => "Î",
        chr(207) => "Ï",
        chr(208) => "Ð",
        chr(209) => "Ñ",
        chr(210) => "Ò",
        chr(211) => "Ó",
        chr(212) => "Ô",
        chr(213) => "Õ",
        chr(214) => "Ö",
        chr(215) => "×",
        chr(216) => "Ø",
        chr(217) => "Ù",
        chr(218) => "Ú",
        chr(219) => "Û",
        chr(220) => "Ü",
        chr(221) => "Ý",
        chr(222) => "Þ",
        chr(223) => "ß",
        chr(224) => "à",
        chr(225) => "á",
        chr(226) => "â",
        chr(227) => "ã",
        chr(228) => "ä",
        chr(229) => "å",
        chr(230) => "æ",
        chr(231) => "ç",
        chr(232) => "è",
        chr(233) => "é",
        chr(234) => "ê",
        chr(235) => "ë",
        chr(236) => "ì",
        chr(237) => "í",
        chr(238) => "î",
        chr(239) => "ï",
        chr(240) => "ð",
        chr(241) => "ñ",
        chr(242) => "ò",
        chr(243) => "ó",
        chr(244) => "ô",
        chr(245) => "õ",
        chr(246) => "ö",
        chr(247) => "÷",
        chr(248) => "ø",
        chr(249) => "ù",
        chr(250) => "ú",
        chr(251) => "û",
        chr(252) => "ü",
        chr(253) => "ý",
        chr(254) => "þ",
        chr(255) => "ÿ");


return strtr($string, $conv);   


}