PHP PDO: charset, set names?
Prior to PHP 5.3.6, the charset option was ignored. If you're running an older version of PHP, you must do it like this:
<?php
$dbh = new PDO("mysql:$connstr", $user, $password);
$dbh -> exec("set names utf8");
?>
You'll have it in your connection string like:
"mysql:host=$host;dbname=$db;charset=utf8mb4"
HOWEVER, prior to PHP 5.3.6, the charset option was ignored. If you're running an older version of PHP, you must do it like this:
$dbh = new PDO("mysql:host=$host;dbname=$db", $user, $password);
$dbh->exec("set names utf8mb4");