Correct pdo connection to use accents - mysql

Question

Hi I have a problem displaying accents on a PDO connection.
I'm learning php a web developing and I started developing using the mysql old php connection
function db_connect()
{
$result = new mysqli('localhost', 'database', 'password', 'user');
if (!$result)
return false;
return $result;
}
my tables use latin1 and utf8 charset and the webpage works fine, showing the words with accents.
I know that the charset and collation is ok beacause it works in the old way.
But when i try to use PDO all the words with accents appers diferent.
Here is and example to optain a category name
$db = database_connect();
$query = " select xxx from yyy where xxxyid = :xxxyid ";
$query_params = array(
':xxxyid' => $xxxyid
);
// Execute the query against the database
$query = $db->prepare($query);
$result = $query->execute($query_params);
if (!$result)
trigger_error('Query failed: ' . mysql_error(), E_USER_ERROR);
$num_xxx = $query->rowCount();
if ($num_xxxs == 0)
return false;
$row = $query->fetch();
return $row['name'];
and my conection is set this way
$db_options = array(
PDO::ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES => false // important! use actual prepared statements (default: emulate prepared statements)
, PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION // throw exceptions on errors (default: stay silent)
, PDO::ATTR_DEFAULT_FETCH_MODE => PDO::FETCH_ASSOC // fetch associative arrays (default: mixed arrays)
);
$database = new PDO('mysql:host=server;dbname=dbname;charset=utf8', 'user', 'password', $db_options); // important! specify the character encoding in the DSN string, don't use SET NAMES
// create prepared statement with one parameter for the category ID
I have search trying to find out a way to display letter with accents but i can't solve it.

Answer 1

I have found a solution in the same link you have posted. This solution is working for me:
http://forums.devshed.com/php-faqs-stickies/938827-pdo-security-php-5-3-6-a-post2851557.html#post2851557
function db_connect()
{
$result = new mysqli('localhost', 'database', 'password', 'user');
if (!$result) {
return false;
}
if (!$result->set_charset("utf8")) {
printf("Error loading character set utf8: %s\n", $result->error); exit();
} else {
printf("Current character set: %s\n", $result->character_set_name());
}
return $result;
}

Answer 2

My solution was completly different. Without any new options to PDO and so on.... My problem was when I filled in the values to db right through phpadmin or script, there was allways this kind of problem. But when I filled the db table in spreadsheet software and then import the filled file to db, problem was solved. This knowledge took me allmost one day of live. Hope it helps. Sorry for my english, I am slovakian.