[SOLVED] Getting wrong character encoding when selecting with PostgreSQL in Node.js

Getting wrong character encoding when selecting with PostgreSQL in Node.js

I'm trying to get some data from PostgreSQL using Node.js, but when I use SELECT * FROM table it returns me wrong characters, but in console it didn't happen.

Only ASCII characters are shown, but not UTF-8 characters. My entire database is encoded using UTF-8, and I'm trying to change the charset in Node.js.

I tried this:

await pgClient.query(`SET client_encoding = 'utf-8'`);

But didn't work.

This is an example of what is returning in bash:

SELECT * FROM example; -- This returns "María"

But this is the response with Node.js:

await pgClient.query('SELECT * FROM example'); // This returns me "Mar¢a"

Solution

The problem was just a Windows moment. The Windows Console works with a WINXXXX encoding, while PostgreSQL in Node.js works with UTF8 by default.

The solution is simple, just change your client_encoding to UTF8 or LATIN1 while using the terminal:

SET client_encoding = 'UTF8';