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# XL. iconv functions

# Introduction

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.

# Requirements

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/.

# Installation

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

# Runtime Configuration

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

For further details and definition of the PHP_INI_* constants see ini_set().

# Resource Types

This extension has no resource types defined.

# Predefined Constants

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

See also the GNU Recode functions.

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