Hi, Im grateful for your detailed explanation. But, i am still having problems.

If i run your code, with the micron encoded as \x{C2}\x{B5} then just using decode('utf8',$clob) seems to work. As you can see from the first set of clob/conv strings below, after the bytes stuff.

clob: 74:68:69:73:20:69:73:20:73:74:72:69:6E:67:20:77:69:74:68:20:C2:B
+5:20:69:6E:20:69:74 -- byte
conv: 74:68:69:73:20:69:73:20:73:74:72:69:6E:67:20:77:69:74:68:20:C2:B
+5:20:69:6E:20:69:74 -- utf8
unix perlio
clob: 'this is string with µ in it'
conv: 'this is string with µ in it'
unix perlio encoding(utf8) utf8
clob: 'this is string with õ in it'
conv: 'this is string with µ in it'
[download]

However if i actually type a micron into the string using Alt-0181 then i get the following output: note i turned use diagnostics on.

 clob: 74:68:69:73:20:69:73:20:73:74:72:69:6E:67:20:77:69:74:68:20:B5:
+20:69:6E:20:69:74 -- byte
conv: 74:68:69:73:20:69:73:20:73:74:72:69:6E:67:20:77:69:74:68:20:EF:B
+F:BD:20:69:6E:20:69:74 -- utf8
unix perlio
clob: 'this is string with µ in it'
Wide character in print at 742047.pl line 19 (#1)
    (W utf8) Perl met a wide character (>255) when it wasn't expecting
    one.  This warning is by default on for I/O (like print).  The eas
+iest
    way to quiet this warning is simply to add the :utf8 layer to the
    output, e.g. binmode STDOUT, ':utf8'.  Another way to turn off the
    warning is to add no warnings 'utf8'; but that is often closer to
    cheating.  In general, you are supposed to explicitly mark the
    filehandle with an encoding, see open and perlfunc/binmode.

conv: 'this is string with � in it'
unix perlio encoding(utf8) utf8
clob: 'this is string with µ in it'
conv: 'this is string with � in it'
[download]

That last conv string is i assume your splodge? Perhaps then as no question marks are being output, this is not an encoding problem at all?

I honestly do appreciate all your time

Joe.

---

---

• Are you posting in the right place? Check out Where do I post X? to know for sure.
• Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags. Currently these include the following:

  <code> <a> <b> <big> <blockquote> <br /> <dd> <dl> <dt> <em> <font> <h1> <h2> <h3> <h4> <h5> <h6> <hr /> <i> <li> <nbsp> <ol> <p> <small> <strike> <strong> <sub> <sup> <table> <td> <th> <tr> <tt> <u> <ul>

• Snippets of code should be wrapped in <code> tags not <pre> tags. In fact, <pre> tags should generally be avoided. If they must be used, extreme care should be taken to ensure that their contents do not have long lines (<70 chars), in order to prevent horizontal scrolling (and possible janitor intervention).
• Want more info? How to link or How to display code and escape characters are good places to start.