Fatal: Call to undefined function mb_strlen()

tekdev

Hi Developers,

I cannot seem to get past a user being able to save a calendar event, a task or note to a task etc. I'm on my second installation on a shared hosting webserver running Apache 2.2.14, MySql 5.0.91 & PHP 5.2.12. I've had exactly the same problem with both installations but the installation itself of epesi BIM (epesi-1.1.3-rev7318.zip) all went smoothly. Logged in with the Admin account and and set everything up without a problem including the users, dashboard, settings etc. No problems at all so far.

Wandering around the user accounts I thought I'd set up various Calendar Events and Tasks so that the client can see the Dashboard and what it contains. On both installations the following happened as soon as I tried to save what I had created when logged in as the user:

Alert Window - There was an error in one of the epesi modules etc. etc. .....

Fatal: Call to undefined function mb_strlen() in /home/travelpr/public_html/bim/data/cache/common.php on line 10996

The relevant section of code from that file is:

$emps = array();
foreach ($r['employees'] as $e) {
$e = CRM_ContactsCommon::contact_format_no_company($e, true);
$e = str_replace(' ',' ',$e);
if (mb_strlen($e,'UTF-8')>33) $e = mb_substr($e , 0, 30, 'UTF-8').'...';
$emps[] = $e;
}

I did find a post in the Installation section http://forum.epesibim.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=132&start=0 which addressed the same error (1071) with MySql and I checked the code you put in that post but it was the same as I had in the modules\CRM\Filters\FiltersInstall.php installation file anyway which I expected.

Comparing your '%char%' entries in MySql your character_set_server utf8 is different to mine which is character_set_server latin1.

Then I got stuck, I cannot login using Firefox as either Admin or the user. I can login as the Admin in IE8 but if I login as the user in IE8 it breaks that as well and I can't get in at all.

This is the ideal product for my client, just what they are looking for so I'd like to get this resolved if possible but I am limited in what I can do being on a shared webhost. I cannot remove the data directory from the old installation because the file permissions are set to 644 and I'm not the owner and I am limited to MySql manipulation through the Control Panel and PHPMyAdmin. It also means I cannot upload a corrected common.php file if that's what needs to be adjusted without doing a completely fresh installation.

Any light you can throw on this would be helpful.

Many Thanks
Andy.

ethnar

Hello there,

First of all - the error you're receiving has nothing to do with mysql, it's all between apache and php code.

There are 3 ways to deal with the problem:
1. The best way is to enable "php_mbstring" extension in php.ini file. As you said you have limited access to your server, thou I believe administrator of your system should agree to change that setting without any trouble. With that extension enabled (php.ini modifications require Apache restart) - this problem will be gone completely.
2. Change all occurrences of mb_* (mb_strlen, mb_substr, etc.) to their non-multibyte equivalent. There are few reasons not to use this solution. First of all you said you have some issues with changing source files. Then - there's the problem of actually hindering UTF8 support to your system. And finally, the maintenance and updates will become very troublesome.
3. Create replacement functions that will provide mb_* calls functionality. It's not overly complicated, but suffers the same issues solution no. 2 does.

If there's any way to get "php_mbstring" extension enabled on your server, I strongly recommend to pursue that solution.

We apologize for inconvenience caused by this change, however please understand it was required to provide full support for UTF8 in epesi.

Kind regards,
Arek

tekdev

Thanks Arek,

I've contact the host and asked them to enable php_mbstring as that is the way you recommend it should be done to provide full support for UTF8.

Let see what they come back with, I'll let you know.

Regards,

Andy.

tekdev

Hi Arek,

The host has now included php_mbstring and it now works as expected. Now to see if it will suit the client as a CRM and what they want to use it for.

Thanks so much for your help.

Regards,

Andy.

ethnar

Great news. 🙂

Good luck
Arek

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