Thread:Project:Support desk/Is $wgDBmysql5 a superfluous option nowadays?

Hi guys,

I just found that in a wiki I take care for $wgDBmysql5 is set to true. I do not think that this makes sense, but maybe I also miss something. That is what I would need help with.

Activating $wgDBmysql5 makes MediaWiki send SET NAMES utf8; on connect. This sets character_set_client, character_set_results and character_set_connection to "utf-8". In my case they already have that value anyway.

Another important point is to make sure that in the database you actually store the data as UTF-8. If you do not use UTF-8 but another charset in the database, SET NAMES utf8; will make sure that the data is converted from what the database uses to UTF-8.

In my case the DB tables use binary encoding, so I will never get a charset conversion when I write to them. So: Does it matter if I use SET NAMES utf8; or SET NAMES binary;?

Does setting this option make any sense in my case?