php replace letter in string

[supermobi]

I need some help trying to replace a letter from a string.
I have a mysql database with names of places, in spanish.
The thing is that the names(985 records) all have the spanish accents without the proper html-escape equivalent, and thus, the mobile browser can't recognize it and writes a ? sign, and it looks horrible.

So, Im trying to replace each accent with the proper html-escape equivalent (&-#-225; for á, &-#-237; for í, etc...)<-- without the '-'.
So when I post to the database it posts with those codes instead of the accent.

I'm making a routine to go over each letter of each name and look for these accents and replace them with the code.
This routine is supposed to work, but it doesnt work
Here it is, if you need more info please let me know.
i'm putting a '-' on the html-escape equivalents to prevent your browser from translating it to the proper character, so you can see the code.

************ begin ********
// $row has all the names
// some example names are "Café de la Plaza" "El Bodegón de Gaspar"
// I have to replace the accents for the proper code
// ex. é = "-&-#233; <-- without the '-'
while($row = mysql_fetch_row($dbResult))
{
echo "$row[0]<br>\n"; //<-- for comparison purposes only

$original = $row[0]; //<-- $original has the name
//$original = explode(" ",$row[0]); <-- tried but doesnt work
$num = strlen($original); //<-- $num has the lenght of the name

for($y=0;$y<$num;$y++) //<-- $num is the control
{
switch ($original[$y]) //<-- goes through all the letters to verify
{
case "á":
$original[$y] = "&-#-225;"; //<--repaces the letter with "&" only
// so for example "Café" becomes Caf&" , not what i want...
// also tried the code escapes "&\#225;" and "\á"
// also tried this other function:
//substr_replace($original,"é",$y,0); <-- doesnt do anything
break;

case "é":
$original[$y] = "&-#-233;";
break;

case "í":
$original[$y] = "&-#-237;";
break;

case "ó":
$original[$y] = "&-#-243;";
break;

case "ú":
$original[$y] = "&-#-250;";
break;

case "ñ":
$original[$y] = "&-#-241;";
break;

case "ü":
$original[$y] = "&-#-252;";
break;

case "Ñ":
$original[$y] = "&-#-209;";
break;
}
}

//$original = implode($original); // <-- tried in conjuction with explode() but doesnt work
echo "$original <br>$num\n<br>\n\n"; // <-- just to check output
// when i finally get the output right i will replace this for an
// modify sql statement to modify the database

}
************* end ***************

Any comments, solutions, ideas are very very welcome.
Thanks for the help

[vcool]

You can use any of the following php functions:

str_replace ( mixed $search , mixed $replace , mixed $subject [, int &$count ] )

string htmlspecialchars ( string $string [, int $quote_style [, string $charset [, bool $double_encode ]]] )

Check the link below for more info on how to implement:

http://us2.php.net/htmlspecialchars

[supermobi]

You can use any of the following php functions:

str_replace ( mixed $search , mixed $replace , mixed $subject [, int &$count ] )

string htmlspecialchars ( string $string [, int $quote_style [, string $charset [, bool $double_encode ]]] )

Check the link below for more info on how to implement:

http://us2.php.net/htmlspecialchars

The str_replace I've already tried. I'll check out the htmlspecialchars,
Thanks for the info.

[akc]

Hello,

You don't have to do that, is perfectly ok to display latin characters in a mobile browser. In order for this to work, you have to display your page on UTF8 and make sure your web server is displaying the page also in UTF8.

The colate of your database must be in UTF8 as well.

I have done many mobile sites in spanish with acent, and ñ.

Let me know if you need help.

Best regards,