How does the incorrect path to MySQL charset impact the functionality of a PHP application?

If the incorrect path to MySQL charset is specified in a PHP application, it can lead to character encoding issues, causing data to be stored or retrieved incorrectly from the database. To solve this issue, ensure that the correct charset is specified in the connection settings to MySQL.

// Specify the correct charset in the MySQL connection settings
$servername = "localhost";
$username = "username";
$password = "password";
$dbname = "database_name";
$charset = "utf8mb4";

// Create connection
$conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);

// Check connection
if ($conn->connect_error) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
}

// Set charset
$conn->set_charset($charset);