Replace foreign characters

Question

I need to be able to replace some common foreign characters with English equivalents before I store values into my db.

For example: æ replace with ae and ñ with n.

Do I use preg_replace?

Thanks

Answer 1

You can define your convertable characters in an array, and use str_replace():

$conversions = array(
    "æ" => "ae",
    "ñ" => "n",
);

$text = str_replace(array_keys($conversions), $conversions, $text);

Answer 2

For single character of accents

$str = strtr($str, 
  "ÀÁÂÃÄÅÇÈÉÊËÌÍÎÏÑÒÓÔÕÖØÝßàáâãäåçèéêëìíîïñòóôõöøùúûüýÿ",
  "AAAAAACEEEEIIIINOOOOOOYSaaaaaaceeeeiiiinoooooouuuuyy"); 

For double character of accents (such as Æ, æ)

$match   = array('æ', 'Æ');
$replace = array('ae', 'AE');
$str = str_replace($replace, $replace, $str);