Question: java/struts, utf8, mysql413

[Ramesh V]

Hi All,

[I tried posting this in mysql/java list but didn't get a response, so
trying here. Sorry, if OT]

I recently started experimenting with storing utf8 data on mysql 413
database server. the character set and all on the db server are properly
set.

When I submit a html form with option set as Content-Type:
multipart/form-data, I am using the Live HTTP Headers in Firefox to check
the data that is going to the server and it looks like this:

1a. DATA SENT TO SERVER WITH form option: Content-Type: multipart/form-data;
===============================================================
Accept-Language: en-us,en;q=0.5
Accept-Charset: ISO-8859-1,utf-8;q=0.7,*;q=0.7
Content-Type: multipart/form-data;
boundary=---------------------------23281168279961
Content-Length: 1108
-----------------------------23281168279961
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="id"
0
-----------------------------23281168279961
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="name"
ä™(r) - 3

1b. DATA SEEN ON SCREEN AFTER SAVE:
===============================================================
ä™(r) - 3

1c. DATA SEEN IN MYSQL - SELECT HEX(NAME), NAME FROM TABLE1
===============================================================
 C3A4E284A2C2AE202D2033, ä™(r) - 3

2a. DATA SENT TO SERVER WITHOUT form option: Content-Type:
multipart/form-data;
===============================================================
Accept-Language: en-us,en;q=0.5
Accept-Charset: ISO-8859-1,utf-8;q=0.7,*;q=0.7
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Content-Length: 242
id=0&name=%C3%A4%E2%84%A2%C2%AE+-+3

2b. DATA SEEN ON SCREEN AFTER SAVE
===============================================================
ä™Â(r) - 3

2c. DATA SEEN IN MYSQL - SELECT HEX(NAME), NAME FROM TABLE1
===============================================================
C383C2A4C3A2C284C2A2C382C2AE202D2033, ä™Â(r) - 3

I am using the standard jdbc driver with the option:
?useUnicode=true&characterEncoding=UTF-8

In the html page, I do have (and I confirmed the same in FireFox, view page
info)
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">

Can somebody please explain what's going on here and what I can do to make
this work without using the multipart/form-data all the time in form. Also,
the weird thing is when I search using the jsp pages for 'ä™(r)%', the rows
that I get are of the second type above, i.e: ä™Â(r) and not something that
matches "ä™(r)".

thanks,
Ramesh