Laravel 5 - moving uploaded file with german characters - filenames

Question

Is there a way to move uploaded file and name it with german characters?
I have a form where user inputs his name and surname and adds a file.
File is uploaded correctly and all input fields are saved in mysql database.
public function store(Request $request)
{
$file = $request->file('file');
$file_name = $request->input('name_surname') . '_' . $request->input('month') . '.' . $file->getClientOriginalExtension();
$request->file('file')->move('uploads', $file_name);
$this->report->create(array('name_surname' => $request->input('name_surname'),
'file_name' => $file_name,
'ini_file_name' => $file->getClientOriginalName(),
'month' => $request->input('month'),
'sum' => $request->input('sum')));
return redirect('/');
}
When I open my 'uploads' folder, file name looks like this:
Günter Baumgärtner_Februar 2015.pdf
dd($file_name); shows this:
"Günter Baumgärtner_Februar 2015.pdf"
MySQL record looks like this:
id | name_surname | month | sum | file_name | ini_file_name
39 | Günter Baumgärtner | Februar 2015 | 200 | Günter Baumgärtner_Februar 2015.pdf | report-11-02-2015_01-36.pdf

Answer 1

Looks like a problem with your system encoding. Is your machine running Linux?
If yes, check your server LANG enviromental variable: at command prompt type locale and look at a line starting with LANG=. If it is LANG=en_US.UTF-8 (or any other value ending with .UTF-8) then renaming/creating files with german characters should work. In my environment (LANG=pl_PL.UTF-8) it works, my Laravel app created a file named Günter_Baumgärtner.csv.
If your LANG is set to non-UTF-8 value, then should change it, but the way how to do it depends on your Linux distribution.