PHP utf8 and json_encode accent mark problems

Question

I have a text coming from a CSV full of accent marks. I check if mb_check_encoding($my_text, 'utf-8') is true, and yes, it is. With this text I generate a variable $json which apply a

json_encode($json,JSON_NUMERIC_CHECK);

var_dump($json)

gives an array of arrays with all strange marks correct (é, ì, etc), but the generated JSON text is incorrect (ex: "Donn\ées" instead of "Données" ).

I know that json_encode only works fine for utf8 encoded data, that's why I checked it before that it was utf8. I tried also adding a header("Content-type: application/json; charset=UTF-8"); without success.

Then what could be the reason of that?

Answer 1

This is how JSON encodes "strange marks", ie Unicode characters. When you use json_decode() on your JSON-encoded string, it will return to normal.