Hebrew strings truncation

[shemi]

When I try to pull data from our database I get shorter strings.
in this example, I use a stored procedure but I try to do select and the results the same

$serverName = "myServer";
$connectionOptions = array(
    "Database" => "$dbName",
    "UID" => "$dbUser",
    "PWD" => "$dbPassword"
);
//Establishes the connection
$conn = sqlsrv_connect($serverName, $connectionOptions);
if ($conn === false) {
    die(FormatErrors(sqlsrv_errors()));
}
//Select Query
$tsql = "exec AlumnusDataGet @id = 30000000";
//Executes the query
$getResults = sqlsrv_query($conn, $tsql);
//Error handling

if ($getResults == FALSE)
    die(FormatErrors(sqlsrv_errors()));
?>
    <h1> Results : </h1>
<?php
while ($row = sqlsrv_fetch_array($getResults, SQLSRV_FETCH_ASSOC)) {
    var_dump($row);
    echo("<br/>");
}
sqlsrv_free_stmt($getResults);
function FormatErrors($errors)
{
    /* Display errors. */
    echo "Error information: <br/>";

    foreach ($errors as $error) {
        echo "SQLSTATE: " . $error['SQLSTATE'] . "<br/>";
        echo "Code: " . $error['code'] . "<br/>";
        echo "Message: " . $error['message'] . "<br/>";
    }
}

The expected output is:

array 
  'TitleHeb' => 'גב''
  'LastNameHeb' => 'אלמן'
  'FirstNameHeb' => 'דנה'
  'TitleEng' => 'Ms.'
  'LastNameEng' => 'Elman'
 ...

The actual output:

array 
  'TitleHeb' => 'גב''
  'LastNameHeb' => 'אלמ'
  'FirstNameHeb' => 'דנ'
  'TitleEng' => 'Ms.'
  'LastNameEng' => 'Elman'
 ...

As you can see in the "LastNameHeb" and "FirstNameHeb" the last character is missing.

PHP Version: 7.1.3-3
Tested with both drivers (versions: 4., 5.)
OS: Ubuntu 16.04

[david-puglielli]

Hi @shemi, could you provide a table schema and some information on how Hebrew values are inserted into the table (like an example INSERT statement) so that this is easier for us to reproduce? Thanks!

[shemi]

Hi @david-puglielli, I can't share the original schema (Hope you can understand) but I test the code with new DB that I created just now and the same problem appears.

The new DB I created using SQL Manager Studio.
The only things I change in the "New DB" dialog was in the "Options" tab:
Collection: Hebrew_CI_AS
Compatibility level: SQL Server 2008 (100)

To insert the new data I used also the SQL Manager Studio right click on the table "Edit Top 200 Rows "

test DB backup

$serverName = "ServerName";
$connectionOptions = array(
    "Database" => "HebTest",
    "UID" => "test",
    "PWD" => "test",
    "CharacterSet" => SQLSRV_ENC_CHAR
);
//Establishes the connection
$conn = sqlsrv_connect($serverName, $connectionOptions);
if ($conn === false) {
    die(FormatErrors(sqlsrv_errors()));
}
//Select Query
$tsql = "SELECT TOP (1000) [ID]
      ,[NameEng]
      ,[NameHeb]
  FROM [HebTest].[dbo].[Users]";
//Executes the query
$getResults = sqlsrv_query($conn, $tsql);
//Error handling

if ($getResults == FALSE)
    die(FormatErrors(sqlsrv_errors()));
?>
    <h1> Results : </h1>
<?php
while ($row = sqlsrv_fetch_array($getResults, SQLSRV_FETCH_ASSOC)) {
    var_dump($row);
    echo("<br/>");
}
sqlsrv_free_stmt($getResults);
function FormatErrors($errors)
{
    /* Display errors. */
    echo "Error information: <br/>";

    foreach ($errors as $error) {
        echo "SQLSTATE: " . $error['SQLSTATE'] . "<br/>";
        echo "Code: " . $error['code'] . "<br/>";
        echo "Message: " . $error['message'] . "<br/>";
    }
}

The expected output is:

array
  'ID' => 1
  'NameEng' => 'shemi'
  'NameHeb' => 'שמי'

The actual output:

array
  'ID' => 1
  'NameEng' => 'shemi'
  'NameHeb' => 'שמ'

[david-puglielli]

Okay thank you @shemi, I am able to reproduce the issue. We will look into it and keep you updated.

[shemi]

Hi @david-puglielli, I wonder if you have any idea on how to I can workaround the problem? Thanks

[shemi]

Hi @david-puglielli, I am really stuck here. I tried every version (stable and pre-release) and the same problem appeared. I really need some direction or any sort of help here will be welcome. thank you.

[Hadis-Fard]

@shemi at this moment we're working on this issue, I'll get back to you once we have more information

[david-puglielli]

Hi @shemi, as a workaround could you try using nchar or nvarchar data types instead of char or varchar? I was able to get the correct output by changing the data type for the Hebrew column to nvarchar.

This problem is likely related to the UTF-8 limitation in the Linux driver, which we are working on fixing. For more information, see #515.

[shemi]

Hi @david-puglielli,

Thank you for your response.

The database I work with is pretty big and already in production so the option to switch to nchar or nvarchar not possible...

I found another workaround, we concat a space to the end of the string and its solve the problem.

I notice that the truncation happens only on the last character and only if it's a Hebrew character.

[david-puglielli]

@shemi Glad you found a functional workaround. We are continuing to investigate, and it turns out that there is a bug in the ODBC driver involving encoding autodetection which also contributes to the string truncation. This bug has been fixed in version 17 of the ODBC driver, for which preview builds are available here. A full fix probably still requires lifting the UTF-8 limitation in the PHP drivers, though, and we are currently working on that fix.

[yitam]

@shemi , as @david-puglielli mentioned, we are in the process of fixing this problem. I'd appreciate if you can answer these questions at your earliest convenience:

1. the system locale in your Ubuntu environment
2. the system locale in your Windows (assuming you run your SQL Manager Studio in Windows)
3. have you tried to insert Hebrew characters using PHP script? If so, can you send us a sample script?

[shemi]

1. English us
2. English us
3. no. I only read data.

[yitam]

Thanks for getting back to us @shemi . Could you please post the output of locale command in Ubuntu?