Accent headache

Question

Why wont the accents show up ?
i have a page (utf-8) that calls a list of spanish cities
from a mysql table (utf8) via php.
The database table has the correct names (with accents)
The php page will show the correct names if i type them in.
(also in source i see letters with accents)
But the php that grabs the names and displays it - will only
show [squares] instead of accented letters.
Please anyone, whats going on ??

Answer 1

Thanks for the help - but i still have a problem
my database details
version:5.0.45-community-nt
char set: utf8 (utf-8 unicode)
collation: utf8_general_ci
my table 'places' has records like Cataluña (the n has a
tilda)
1)
connection script: //$q="SET NAMES 'utf8' ";
$r=mysqli_query($DBlink,$q) or die(mysqli_error($DBlink)." Q=".$q);
page header: <meta http-equiv="Content-Type"
content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
= the drop down list of places shows correctly
2)
page header: <meta http-equiv="Content-Type"
content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
= the drop down has squares
3)
using SET NAMES and page=utf-8
= drop down displays correctly
So, i am thinking that setup(3) is the best for my
english/spanish website
I have done the display data, next i will build the
user-input form.
I have another problem...
i have an include page: require_once 'newdropdown.php'; which
is just php (triggered by javascript)
SELECT moreplaces...
echo '<select name="new">...
Strangely this always displays incorrectly, no matter what i
try.
How can i make this second dropdown display correctly ??