Convert iso-8859-1 to utf-8 javascript

Question

I try to parse a "iso-8859-1" page and save to my DB with utf-8, this is my code:

var buffer = iconv.encode(data, "iso-8859-1");
data = iconv.decode(buffer, 'utf8');

It doesn't work. All symbols like å or ä convert to �

How can I save these symbols?

Answer 1

You need a third-party library for that task. You are using iconv-lite so you need to follow these steps:

1. Open input file in binary mode, so JavaScript doesn't assume UTF-8 nor try to convert to its internal encoding:

   var fs = require("fs");
   var input = fs.readFileSync(inputFilePath, {encoding: "binary"});
   

2. Convert from ISO-8859-1 to Buffer:

   var iconv = require('iconv-lite');
   var output = iconv.decode(input, "ISO-8859-1");
   

3. Save Buffer to output file:

   fs.writeFileSync(outputFilePath, output);
   

If unsure of encoding names, you can test whether a given encoding is supported with encodingExists():

> iconv.encodingExists("ISO-8859-1");
true

Answer 2

It's working for me:

var tempBuffer = new Buffer(response.body, 'iso-8859-1');
var iconv = new Iconv('ISO-8859-1', 'UTF-8');
var tempBuffer = iconv.convert(tempBuffer);

used 'iconv' module https://github.com/bnoordhuis/node-iconv