Wrongly encoding with iconv on Linux server

[lrfandet]

Following an upgrade of PHP, Joomla and my extensions to current versions, a single line of text in one extension is displaying corruptly, as if WINDOWS true - but the server is Linux - so that line looks like Korean or Japanese on the screen.

The issue is inconsistent:
- The extension has code to discover WINDOWS true/false, and to ensure that encoding with iconv is not used if WINDOWS false;
- The data from which the displayed text is derived is being correctly transferred to and read from the database throughout the rest of the extension, rendering correctly on all other pages;
- The problem arises with Chrome on my Windows 10 PC and Android mobile, but not on all PCs or mobiles in Chrome, and not with Edge on my PC or Internet on my mobile, nor Firefox.

I have hard coded Windows false into the extension with no success, using
define("WINDOWS", false);
in two components as recommended by the developer, but it is being overridden somewhere.

Sorry but the Forum Post Assistant is not working for me, so do let me know what system information is needed to investigate. Here is something to be going on with:

PHP Built On Linux webserver2.cmwebhosting.net 3.10.0-327.28.2.el7.x86_64 #1 SMP Wed Aug 3 11:11:39 UTC 2016 x86_64
Database Type mysql
Database Version 5.5.41-MariaDB
Database Collation latin1_swedish_ci
Database Connection Collation utf8mb4_general_ci
PHP Version 7.2.11
Web Server Apache/2
WebServer to PHP Interface fpm-fcgi
Joomla! Version Joomla! 3.9.0 Stable [ Amani ] 30-October-2018 14:00 GMT
Joomla! Platform Version Joomla Platform 13.1.0 Stable [ Curiosity ] 24-Apr-2013 00:00 GMT
User Agent Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/70.0.3538.102 Safari/537.36

Is there a known plugin that could override the WINDOWS value? Or what?

[sozzled]

Sorry but the Forum Post Assistant is not working for me ...

Please explain what you mean by the FPA "not working" for you. Did you read the instructions for use?

[Webdongle]

Link please (in format site .com not site.com)

[lrfandet]

Sorry but the Forum Post Assistant is not working for me ...

Please explain what you mean by the FPA "not working" for you. Did you read the instructions for use?

I did read the instructions. I tried several times to get it to run but got Error 404.

[lrfandet]

Thanks for your help

Link please (in format site .com not site.com)

http://bookings.wyevalleyvisitorcentre .co.uk .

Select a time-slot and the text in question will appear in blue. It should display the name of the venue and the selected time - or it may display weird characters instead.

[Webdongle]

Nothing untoward showing when I view the site.

[lrfandet]

Nothing untoward showing when I view the site.

Thanks for looking. The extension's Dev can't reproduce the problem either, so I am still stabbing in the dark.

[Webdongle]

Perhaps you have a browser hijacker? What anti virus/firewall do you have and when did you last scan your computer?

[sozzled]

#1: I don't see the issue. I don't see a "time slot" to select on the website and therefore I don't know what you're trying to describe (about non-Latin characters appearing on the display).

#2: I don't understand what you mean (after uploading the FPA file—fpa-en.php—to the base folder of your website and then pointing your browser to <your-domain>/fpa-en.php) how you are getting a 404 error. Are you absolutely sure that you followed the instructions that I referred to earlier? Did you extract the PDF file from the FPA download package and read it?

Beats me what the problem might be. Possibly something odd with a .htaccess file redirection (assuming that you have a file named .htaccess in your site's base folder, that is)?

[lrfandet]

Perhaps you have a browser hijacker? What anti virus/firewall do you have and when did you last scan your computer?

Nothing known:
Windows Security Firewall, and Virus & Threat Protection, scanned at boot up daily, up to date;
Webroot End Point Security on my phone and all work devices, scanned at boot up daily;
myJoomla monitors the CMS, notifying logins, code changes and unsafe code, and manages backups and updates, and we use Akeeba Admin Tools.

We are not perfect, but hopefully on the right trajectory.

[sozzled]

If there's a problem running the FPA on your website then there's a problem with the website.

[lrfandet]

#1: I don't see the issue. I don't see a "time slot" to select on the website and therefore I don't know what you're trying to describe (about non-Latin characters appearing on the display).

#2: I don't understand what you mean (after uploading the FPA file—fpa-en.php—to the base folder of your websiste and then pointing your browser to <your-domain>/fpa-en.php) how you are getting a 404 error. Are you absolutely sure that you followed the instructions that I referred to earlier? Did you extract the PDF file from the FPA download package and read it?

Beats me what the problem might be. Possibly something odd with a .htaccess file redirection (assuming that you have a file named .htaccess in your site's base folder, that is)?

Thanks for coming back to me,

#1 Sorry, what I wrote was not clear:
The CMS is for an appointment booking system (Advanced Booking Pro) for groups planning to visit multiple venues, with a customer support system (Kunena Forum).

When logged in, you land on the booking form. There you select a venue, a date and the time-slot you desire on that date (a green rectangle in a grid), and your provisional booking is displayed in blue text on a green bar - and that is the line of text that is rendered with the wrong encoding.

#2 ... to the letter.

I will check the htaccess when I get to work tmoz, my home internet connection keeps disconnecting (probably Netflix taking up all the local bandwidth on Saturday night). Good call.

[sozzled]

Thank you for your response. I wasn't logged in. In fact, I rarely (if ever) register myself at someone else's website. I think we should make headway with the FPA report before I ask to see a screenshot of the non-Latin text that you've referred to.

[Webdongle]

Have you put the fpa in the same folder as the configuration.php or in the folder for the main domain? It should be the former.

Addendum
http://bookings.wyevalleyvisitorcentre .co.uk/php-en.php displays
http://bookings.wyevalleyvisitorcentre .co.uk
So does http://bookings.wyevalleyvisitorcentre .co.uk/robots.txt
This suggests that you have the subdomain set up incorrectly or ... the subdomain folder is below that of the main site and is following rules of the .htaccess of the main site.

http://wyevalleyvisitorcentre .co.uk/php-en.php gives the 404 error because the fpa is not in yourmain domain folder. (it should not be there so that is the expected result.

btw
Some shared hosting create the folder for the subdomain under the main domain folder instead of level with it.

Methinks that first we need to know if you created the folder for the subdomain or the if the folder was auto created when you created the subdomain. Being able to reach http ://wyevalleyvisitorcentre .co.uk/bookings/ also suggests that the subdomain folder is below the main domain folder. You have path problems as a result.

[lrfandet]

Sorry my response is slow, I have been on other tasks.

Have you put the fpa in the same folder as the configuration.php or in the folder for the main domain? It should be the former.

... the subdomain folder is below that of the main site and is following rules of the .htaccess of the main site.

http://wyevalleyvisitorcentre .co.uk/php-en.php gives the 404 error because the fpa is not in yourmain domain folder. (it should not be there so that is the expected result.

btw
Some shared hosting create the folder for the subdomain under the main domain folder instead of level with it.

Methinks that first we need to know if you created the folder for the subdomain or the if the folder was auto created when you created the subdomain. Being able to reach http ://wyevalleyvisitorcentre .co.uk/bookings/ also suggests that the subdomain folder is below the main domain folder. You have path problems as a result.

The subdomain folder is indeed below the main domain folder and was autocreated. There is no configuration.php above the subdomain. The .htaccess is in the subdomain folder, but there is also .htaccess (filesize 0 bytes) in the public_ftp folder of the main domain. I have checked the content of the .htaccess in the subdomain, and it is correct and unchanged from before the upgrade.

So... should I delete or rename the empty .htaccess file in the main domain folder, or overwrite it with the correct version that is in the subdomain (and if I do the latter, should I delete the one in the subdomain)? And then should the FPA be placed in the main domain folder - not the subdomain?

[Webdongle]

If you are unable to put the subdomain folder in the public_ftp folder (level with the main domain folder) ... that makes things awkward.

Do not delete the empty .htaccess (that's in the subdomain folder) because that prevents that folder using the .htaccess in it's parent folder. You could replace it with the one provided with Joomla ... but there must be one (when the subdomain folder is nested) to prevent the child folder following it's parents .htaccess rules.

The fpa should be in the subdomain folder (where the configuration.php is)

Because you have a crappy shared Hosting that is configured to nest the subdomain ... I suggest building on localhost then moving it to the Host using Akeeba.

[lrfandet]

The fpa should be in the subdomain folder (where the configuration.php is)

Because you have a crappy shared Hosting that is configured to nest the subdomain ... I suggest building on localhost then moving it to the Host using Akeeba.

Thanks Webdongle. I did put the fpa in the correct place then.

I have to nest subdomains:
I need two instances of Joomla, each in its own folder at the same level below the subdomain - because one is for ticket reservations, and the other takes group activity bookings. It's like a multiplex cinema where anyone can buy a ticket in advance for any show BUT a group leader can book a private screening by paying a deposit and paying for all the tickets. One website, two systems needed.

[Webdongle]

The nesting I was referring to was the subdomain folder being nested under the main domain folder.

If you want two instances of Joomla then best create two subdomains and have an instance of Joomla one each.

If both instances of Joomla need to have the same base url (e.g. asubdomain.site.com) then you can control that with on instance of Joomla by creating three menus each with its own menu module. You then set menu module 'A' to display with all the Menu 'A', 'B' and 'C' menu items. Then set menu module 'A' to display all Menu 'A' items and similar for Menu 'B'.

I can set up a demo if you want. You need to get that sorted out before you move on.

[sozzled]

To be clear, there's a difference between subdomains and nested filesystems. I haven't seen the term "nested subdomains" before. A subdomain is a domain (just like any other domain) except that you don't need to purchase a separate licence for it or create a distinct DNS record for it.

It all comes back to how people organise the file system under the topic-level (or root) folder on their webhost (typically, this is something like /public_html). Some people throw all the folders/files needed by one Joomla website under the /public_html folder but then, when they need to add another Joomla website, they've got nowhere else to place the files used by the second (third, fourth, etc.) website except as a folder under the original J! website.

We see this problem occur again and again. Unless you take special action (usually with .htaccess files within the base folders of each J! website), people run into strife and it's often three or four days of exchanging information before we discover the primary reason. I've written about this before: see viewtopic.php?f=710&t=959514&p=3544710.

The main point that I want to make is that filesystems are separate from domains (or sub-domains or sub-sub-sub-sub-domains). You can still have one website (for ticket reservations and group bookings) irrespective of whether the content for these facilities are wholly contained within one website or draw on information held elsewhere.

As far as the FPA is concerned, the FPA report may be ambiguous or inconclusive depending on which folder the file fpa-en.php is placed and subordinate arrangement of nested folders under that folder (i.e. whether there are other J! websites contained further down the directory tree).

[Webdongle]

To be clear, there's a difference between subdomains and nested filesystems. I haven't seen the term "nested subdomains" before. A subdomain is a domain (just like any other domain) except that you don't need to purchase a separate licence for it or create a distinct DNS record for it.... The main point that I want to make is that filesystems are separate from domains (or sub-domains or sub-sub-sub-sub-domains).

I will explain because you are used to 'perfect' Hosts and servers. and you are basing your statements on a false premise.

In the normal course of events you would create a folder in the public-html folder for the main Domain name. Then (using the Hosts CP) define the folder as the root for the domain name. For a subdomain you would create another folder in the public-html folder (level with the folder for the main Domain name). Next a subdomain would be created and the second folder (named the same as the subdomain) would be set as the root for the subdomain.

However some of the cheaper shared Hosting packages do not allow that. You create a subdomain the server then automatically creates the root folder (named the same as the subdomain) for the subdomain . And it creates it under the folder root of the main Domain. Thus the root folder for the subdomaim is 'nested' under the root folder of the main Domain.

Thus when subdomain.site.com and site.com/subdomain both point to the same folder. This causes a lot of confusion with paths. But some users have to work with that because they have a cheap shared Hosting package. I have explained that to you before but you either ignored it or forgot it.

What I wanted to establish (and the OP answered me) was to see if they created the subdomain folder in the wrong place or if the Hosting server auto created the folder. Now that has been established then we can help the OP by explaining how to make one instance of Joomla act like two separate sites.

[sozzled]

Yeah, @Webdongle. That's the difference between choosing a webhosting provider that caters to someone who only requires one website and someone who wants to create more than one website. El-cheapo webhosting providers often make things difficult; not impossibly insurmountable (if you're prepared to work around some of the limitations) but difficult nonetheless. It all comes back to one important factor: the choices one makes when one creates their first website (whether it's a J! site or something else) determine the consequences and outcomes for their second and subsequent website.

These choices (and consequences) come back to bite us later, as we've read before on this forum. While I would not totally agree that my statements are based on a false premise, I was trying to contain the length of my post and I may have made a few sweeping assumptions for the sake of brevity.

By the way, I've used a few different webhosting providers. After signing up to the package (and, yes, the webhost created a do-nothing "site" under /public_html and associated my primary domain with it) the first thing I did was to delete that "site's" (autocreated) filesystem. Just like you would have if you were working in a PC-hosted environment, eh?

[Webdongle]

I use the cheaper Hosting packages and one was like that. The op has to learn how to make one install of Joomla look like two sites. If he wants I can knock up a demo and send him a copy.

[lrfandet]

If you want two instances of Joomla then best create two subdomains and have an instance of Joomla one each.

That is what I have. The main domain has no Joomla, but has links to channel users to either one subdomain (instance of Joomla and database) or t'other, depending on whether they are simply reserving admission tickets for themselves, or alternatively booking an activity for an organised group. I hope this helps.

I wonder if we have all been barking up the wrong tree by looking at the server, Joomla, and the extension:
On one of the devices at work, the problem has spontaneously disappeared after a few days, which suggests that some auto-updating thing may be at fault - possibly the browser or the OS.

I googled "encoding problem Chrome", and there have been browser bugs which cause corrupt display of characters. In particular, various fonts can interfere with encoding on the device on which they are installed (historically - but not consistently - when viewed in MS Explorer and Chrome). I note that Windows 10 updates have been repeatedly uninstalling certain fonts from earlier versions of Windows. I have had to reinstall the fonts on my PC because they are used in the designs of company logos which I maintain. So maybe the problem will be resolved by the next Chrome or OS update.

Webdongle and Sozzled, I am very grateful for your help. Bearing in mind that hard coding has failed to resolve this issue, and you chaps - with two shed-loads of experience - can't put your fingers straight on it, I am putting this down to a browser bug, at least for now, which is very frustrating for us all. Thank you for all you have done.

[Webdongle]

So you have one main site Non Joomla and two subdomains each with an instance of Joomla? You still only need one instance of Joomla and you don't need a subdomain. I will set up demo. I am (almost) certain that the way your Host sets up the subdomains is the cause of your problem.

[lrfandet]

So you have one main site Non Joomla and two subdomains each with an instance of Joomla? You still only need one instance of Joomla and you don't need a subdomain. I will set up demo. I am (almost) certain that the way your Host sets up the subdomains is the cause of your problem.

Thank you for your offer, I would be very interested to see that, I have a major site redesign to sort out for next year. BTW, I am that crappy host... well, not quite... I have been given reseller powers by my webserver, which is very kind of him, so I can set up anything I like.

[Webdongle]

Ah one of those crapy packages. I'm with 1and1 ... well it's INOS now. setting up the demo as we speak.

[Webdongle]

@lrfandet
I have a demo set up. Please pm me for the link as forum rules prevent me from posting the link.

[Webdongle]

Got your email unfortunately because you have contact by PM disabled ... I am unable to reply. Pm me an email and I can contact you with the url of the demo site.

[Webdongle]

I would suggest that you do not need to use a subdomain ... especially as the server auto creates the folder for it.