Convert UTF-8 Characters to ISO-88591 and Back in PHP

When working with multiple scripts that use different encodings, the need to convert between character sets arises. One such conversion involves transforming UTF-8 characters to ISO-88591 and vice versa.

Despite the existence of utf_encode() and _decode(), there seems to be a gap in functionality for directly converting UTF-8 to ISO-88591. This question addresses this issue and explores alternative methods for achieving the desired conversion.

Solution Using PHP Functions

PHP offers several functions that facilitate character set conversions:

• iconv(): Requires the ext/iconv extension and supports a wide range of character sets.
• mb_convert_encoding(): Uses the ext/mbstring extension and provides a more flexible interface.
• utf8_encode(): Converts ISO-8859-1 characters to UTF-8.
• utf8_decode(): Converts UTF-8 characters to ISO-8859-1.

Code Examples

To convert a string from UTF-8 to ISO-88591:

$utf8 = 'ÄÖÜ';
$iso88591 = iconv('UTF-8', 'ISO-8859-1', $utf8);

To convert a string from ISO-88591 to UTF-8:

$iso88591 = 'ÄÖÜ';
$utf8 = iconv('ISO-8859-1', 'UTF-8', $iso88591);

These alternatives provide a simple solution for converting between UTF-8 and ISO-88591 while considering the potential need for extensions and their respective advantages.