PHP header for xml with utf-8

Question

I'm using the header() function to turn a file into XML standard. The problem is when I use <?php header("Content-type: text/xml; charset=utf-8"); ?> it just renders the <?xml version="1.0"?>, without the enconding/charset. Am I using it wrongly?

Answer 1

The header() function just modifies HTTP headers. The code you posted sets a Content-Type header, which is important for telling browsers and other clients what type of file you're serving.

The <?xml version="1.0"?> line you're talking about is part of the document itself, and not affected by the HTTP headers.

Your tags say you're using DOM to create your XML document. If you change your DomDocument constructor to also pass the charset,

$doc = new DomDocument('1.0', 'UTF-8');

It should output that charset in the XML document.

Answer 2

header just sets a HTTP header in the result. PHP doesn't do anything else with the value, so it's up to you to make sure it's being used properly.

If you're using an XML library to generate your XML (including the prologue), check the documentation for that library. If you're outputting the XML "by hand" (o, you need to add the necessary attribute to the prologue yourself.