Re: Something like Server.HTMLEncode for MySQL

[Rick James]

Recommended (though it is not the only way)...

SET NAMES utf8 -- in your application language
CHARACTER SET utf8 -- on the LONGTEXT field
The equivalent of PHP's mysql_real_escape_string -- when building the string to INSERT.
Nothing -- when SELECTing the field
The equivalent of PHP's htmlspecialchars() when echoing for display in HTML.

Do not use HTMLEncode before inserting into the db table; it is inadequate and premature.

Explanation...
* The db table contains un-escaped utf8 bytes. But you need to escape things to get them INSERTed.
* When delivering to HTML, escaping (of a different sort) is needed.

Specs...
mysql_real_escape_string() escapes (I think) three characters '"\ by preceeding them with a \.
htmlspecialchars() escapes 4 things: "&<>
htmlentities() escapes those 4 things, plus turns an acute e into "&eacute;" (etc).