This module contains an interface to the iconv library functions. The iconv library functions convert strings between various character sets encodings. The supported character sets depend on the iconv() implementation on your system. Note that the iconv() function on some systems may not work as well as you expect. In this case, you should install the libiconv library.
Your systems standard C library must provide the iconv() function or you must have libiconv installed on your system. The libiconv library is available from http://www.gnu.org/software/libiconv/.
To be able to use the functions defined in this module you must compile your PHP interpreter using the configure line --with-iconv[=DIR].
Note to Win32 Users: In order to enable this module on a Windows environment, you must copy iconv-1.3.dll from the DLL folder of the PHP/Win32 binary package to the SYSTEM32 folder of your windows machine. (Ex: C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32 or C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32). Starting with PHP 4.2.1 the name changed to iconv.dll
The behaviour of these functions is affected by settings in php.ini.
Table 1. Iconv configuration options
| Name | Default | Changeable |
|---|---|---|
| iconv.input_encoding | ICONV_INPUT_ENCODING | PHP_INI_ALL |
| iconv.output_encoding | ICONV_OUTPUT_ENCODING | PHP_INI_ALL |
| iconv.internal_encoding | ICONV_INTERNAL_ENCODING | PHP_INI_ALL |
Since PHP 4.3.0 it is possible to identify at runtime which iconv implementation is adopted by this extension.
Table 2. iconv constants
| constant | type | description |
|---|---|---|
| ICONV_IMPL | string | The implementation name |
| ICONV_VERSION | string | The implementation version |
Note: Writing implementation-dependent scripts with these constants should be discouraged.
See also the GNU Recode functions.