request_var won't accept unicode (even with multibyte set)

Someone1234 · Post by **Someone1234** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 5:28 pm

I have a form which is receiving this unicode character. As in "Hêllo" (assuming that renders, with the special "e").

When I receive the value using $_POST['Name'] it works, when I receive it using utf8_normalize_nfc(request_var('Name', '', true)) I receive an empty value (nothing at all).

I've tried several variations e.g. request_var('Name', '', false), with or without the utf8_normalize_nfc() but nothing so far as worked. request_var() simply returns an empty string every single time.

I've checked the Wiki article and searched, both just suggest repeatedly setting the 'true' in multibyte and it should work, but it is not.

Any suggestions are helpful. If you try the code below and it works for you please let me know, as it doesn't for me and that might indicate a problem with the PHPBB installation itself.

Board version: 3.1.2
PHP Version: 5.6.0
mbstring Multibyte Support: Enabled
mbstring Multibyte string engine: libmbfl
mbstring HTTP input encoding translation: disabled
libmbfl version: 1.3.2

Full code:

Code: Select all

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html> 
<body> 
	<form name="Application" method=post action="/phpBB3/test.php" >
		Name:<input type="text" name="Name" size=20 maxlength=15>
		<input type="submit" value="Apply"> 
	</form> 
</body>
</html>

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<?php 
define('IN_PHPBB', true);   
$phpbb_root_path = './'; 
$phpEx = substr(strrchr(__FILE__, '.'), 1); 
include($phpbb_root_path . 'common.' . $phpEx);
include($phpbb_root_path . 'includes/functions_posting.' . $phpEx); 
include($phpbb_root_path . 'includes/bbcode.' . $phpEx); 
include($phpbb_root_path . 'includes/message_parser.' . $phpEx);
include ($phpbb_root_path . 'includes/functions_display.' . $phpEx); 
$user->session_begin(); 
$auth->acl($user->data); 
$user->setup('viewforum'); 
$allow_bbcode = 1; 
$allow_smilies = 1; 
$allow_urls = 1;  

echo utf8_normalize_nfc(request_var('Name', '', true));  
//echo $_POST['Name'];  

?>

Wolfsblvt · Post by **Wolfsblvt** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 6:11 pm

request_var() is deprecated. In phpbb 3.1 you should use the request object wich should handle everything for you.
See here: https://area51.phpbb.com/docs/31x/codin ... ml#general

Maybe you should try to get this working.

Someone1234 · Post by **Someone1234** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 6:49 pm

I have migrated over, but it hasn't solved the core issue (or altered it). Same problem.

When I pass it a non-unicode it works.
When I pass it "Hêllo" it returns nothing ('').
is_set_post() seems to work as expected (with or without the unicode).

It doesn't even return "fail" as it might. Seems like this could be a bug.

Code: Select all

<?php 
define('IN_PHPBB', true);   
$phpbb_root_path = './'; 
$phpEx = substr(strrchr(__FILE__, '.'), 1); 
include($phpbb_root_path . 'common.' . $phpEx);
include($phpbb_root_path . 'includes/functions_posting.' . $phpEx); 
include($phpbb_root_path . 'includes/bbcode.' . $phpEx); 
include($phpbb_root_path . 'includes/message_parser.' . $phpEx);
include ($phpbb_root_path . 'includes/functions_display.' . $phpEx); 
$user->session_begin(); 
$auth->acl($user->data); 
$user->setup('viewforum'); 
$allow_bbcode = 1; 
$allow_smilies = 1; 
$allow_urls = 1;  
 
global  $request;
if ($request->is_set_post('Name'))
{
	echo 'Exists <br />'; 
}
  
$Name =  $request->variable('Name', 'fail', true, \phpbb\request\request_interface::POST); 
echo $Name; 
 
//echo utf8_normalize_nfc(request_var('Name', '', false));   
//echo $_POST['Name'];  

?>

HJW · Post by **HJW** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 7:37 pm

I'm not sure if I understood your problem. This works for me:
$name = utf8_normalize_nfc($request->variable('name', '', true));

Someone1234 · Post by **Someone1234** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 7:49 pm

It works for you with Hêllo within the 'name'? it works fine for me with non-unicode (e.g. "test") it is just when I have that special latin 'ê' it breaks. Even with utf8_normalize_nfc() the $request->variable() returns an empty string.

HJW · Post by **HJW** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 8:01 pm

Yes, it works. Where are the post from. Is the site coding in UTF8-without BOM?

RMcGirr83 · Post by **RMcGirr83** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 8:03 pm

check your third parameter with $request_var. It should be set to true for multibyte

doc blocks wrote: * @param bool $multibyte If $default is a string this paramater has to be true if the variable may contain any UTF-8 characters
* Default is false, causing all bytes outside the ASCII range (0-127) to be replaced with question marks

Someone1234 · Post by **Someone1234** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 8:04 pm

edit:

You were right. The problem had absolutely nothing to do with PHPBB at all. The submitting form was corrupting the unicode because it lacked:
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">

Once I fixed the HTML form PHP could read the unicode strings correctly.

RMcGirr83 · Post by **RMcGirr83** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 8:10 pm

$Name = utf8_normalize_nfc(request_var('Name', '', true);

dnkroz · Post by **dnkroz** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 7:01 pm

Hi!
I have the same problem but I can't use UTF-8.

I have a declaration:

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<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-2">

And variable:

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$nazwa_imprezy_2= $request->variable('nazwa_imprezy_2', '', true, \phpbb\request\request_interface::POST);

Sending character like:

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ę

Gives me this:

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nazwa_imprezy_2:(unable to decode value)

Any suggestions?

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