title: MySQL CHAR() Function and UTF8 Output?
body: <pre>+--------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
  | Variable_name            | Value                                                  |
  +--------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
  | character_set_client     | utf8                                                   |
  | character_set_connection | utf8                                                   |
  | character_set_database   | utf8                                                   |
  | character_set_filesystem | binary                                                 |
  | character_set_results    | utf8                                                   |
  | character_set_server     | utf8                                                   |
  | character_set_system     | utf8                                                   |
  | character_sets_dir       | /usr/local/mysql-5.1.41-osx10.5-x86_64/share/charsets/ |
  +--------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
  8 rows in set (0.00 sec)
  
  mysql> select version();
  +-----------+
  | version() |
  +-----------+
  | 5.1.41    |
  +-----------+
  1 row in set (0.00 sec)
  
  mysql> select char(0x00FC);
  +--------------+
  | char(0x00FC) |
  +--------------+
  | ?            |
  +--------------+
  1 row in set (0.00 sec)</pre>
  
  <p>Expecting actual utf8 character --> " ü " instead of " ? "  Tried char(0x00FC using utf8) also, but no go.  </p>
  
  <p>Using mysql version 5.1.41</p>
  
  <p>Been allover the Google, cannot find anything on this.  The MySQL docs simply say that multibyte output is expected on values greater than 255, after mysql version 5.0.14. </p>
  
  <p>Thanks</p>