Unable to use emoji as devMode title prefix

[Wiejeben]

Configuration:

• Craft: 3.0.2
• SEOmatic: 3.0.0-beta.22
• PHP: 7.0.27
• MySQL: 5.7.21

I thought it would be really neat if I could use a construction emoji (🚧) instead of the default [devMode] title prefix, however during saving this change I get the following database exception:

PDOException: SQLSTATE[HY000]: General error: 1366 Incorrect string value: '\xF0\x9F\x9A\xA7",...' for column 'settings' at row 1 in /srv/app/vendor/yiisoft/yii2/db/Command.php:1258
Stack trace:
#0 /srv/app/vendor/yiisoft/yii2/db/Command.php(1258): PDOStatement->execute()
#1 /srv/app/vendor/yiisoft/yii2/db/Command.php(1075): yii\db\Command->internalExecute('UPDATE `plugins...')
#2 /srv/app/vendor/craftcms/cms/src/services/Plugins.php(597): yii\db\Command->execute()
#3 /srv/app/vendor/craftcms/cms/src/controllers/PluginsController.php(147): craft\services\Plugins->savePluginSettings(Object(nystudio107\seomatic\Seomatic), Array)
#4 [internal function]: craft\controllers\PluginsController->actionSavePluginSettings()
#5 /srv/app/vendor/yiisoft/yii2/base/InlineAction.php(57): call_user_func_array(Array, Array)
#6 /srv/app/vendor/yiisoft/yii2/base/Controller.php(157): yii\base\InlineAction->runWithParams(Array)
#7 /srv/app/vendor/craftcms/cms/src/web/Controller.php(74): yii\base\Controller->runAction('save-plugin-set...', Array)
#8 /srv/app/vendor/yiisoft/yii2/base/Module.php(528): craft\web\Controller->runAction('save-plugin-set...', Array)
#9 /srv/app/vendor/craftcms/cms/src/web/Application.php(244): yii\base\Module->runAction('plugins/save-pl...', Array)
#10 /srv/app/vendor/craftcms/cms/src/web/Application.php(452): craft\web\Application->runAction('plugins/save-pl...', Array)
#11 /srv/app/vendor/craftcms/cms/src/web/Application.php(228): craft\web\Application->_processActionRequest(Object(craft\web\Request))
#12 /srv/app/vendor/yiisoft/yii2/base/Application.php(386): craft\web\Application->handleRequest(Object(craft\web\Request))
#13 /srv/app/web/index.php(21): yii\base\Application->run()
#14 {main}

Next yii\db\Exception: SQLSTATE[HY000]: General error: 1366 Incorrect string value: '\xF0\x9F\x9A\xA7",...' for column 'settings' at row 1
The SQL being executed was: UPDATE `plugins` SET `settings`='{\"pluginName\":\"SEO\",\"renderEnabled\":\"1\",\"sitemapsEnabled\":\"1\",\"environment\":\"local\",\"displayPreviewSidebar\":\"1\",\"displayAnalysisSidebar\":true,\"devModeTitlePrefix\":\"🚧\",\"separatorChar\":\"|\",\"maxTitleLength\":\"120\",\"maxDescriptionLength\":\"300\"}', `dateUpdated`='2018-04-15 15:08:00' WHERE `handle`='seomatic' in /srv/app/vendor/yiisoft/yii2/db/Schema.php:664
Stack trace:
#0 /srv/app/vendor/yiisoft/yii2/db/Command.php(1263): yii\db\Schema->convertException(Object(PDOException), 'UPDATE `plugins...')
#1 /srv/app/vendor/yiisoft/yii2/db/Command.php(1075): yii\db\Command->internalExecute('UPDATE `plugins...')
#2 /srv/app/vendor/craftcms/cms/src/services/Plugins.php(597): yii\db\Command->execute()
#3 /srv/app/vendor/craftcms/cms/src/controllers/PluginsController.php(147): craft\services\Plugins->savePluginSettings(Object(nystudio107\seomatic\Seomatic), Array)
#4 [internal function]: craft\controllers\PluginsController->actionSavePluginSettings()
#5 /srv/app/vendor/yiisoft/yii2/base/InlineAction.php(57): call_user_func_array(Array, Array)
#6 /srv/app/vendor/yiisoft/yii2/base/Controller.php(157): yii\base\InlineAction->runWithParams(Array)
#7 /srv/app/vendor/craftcms/cms/src/web/Controller.php(74): yii\base\Controller->runAction('save-plugin-set...', Array)
#8 /srv/app/vendor/yiisoft/yii2/base/Module.php(528): craft\web\Controller->runAction('save-plugin-set...', Array)
#9 /srv/app/vendor/craftcms/cms/src/web/Application.php(244): yii\base\Module->runAction('plugins/save-pl...', Array)
#10 /srv/app/vendor/craftcms/cms/src/web/Application.php(452): craft\web\Application->runAction('plugins/save-pl...', Array)
#11 /srv/app/vendor/craftcms/cms/src/web/Application.php(228): craft\web\Application->_processActionRequest(Object(craft\web\Request))
#12 /srv/app/vendor/yiisoft/yii2/base/Application.php(386): craft\web\Application->handleRequest(Object(craft\web\Request))
#13 /srv/app/web/index.php(21): yii\base\Application->run()
#14 {main}
Additional Information:
Array
(
    [0] => HY000
    [1] => 1366
    [2] => Incorrect string value: '\xF0\x9F\x9A\xA7",...' for column 'settings' at row 1
)

Could this be a limitation of the SEOmatic implementation, or my database configuration?

[khalwat]

I don't think it's a limitation of SEOmatic, I think it's a limitation of MySQL.

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/8709892/mysql-throws-incorrect-string-value-error

craftcms/cms#2513

craftcms/cms#2527

I guess it boils down to "how bad do ya want it?" Because it appears there are work-arounds, but it may be non-trivial. For sure, switching to PostgreSQL for instance would solve it. It's possible that changing the MySQL encoding to utf8mb4 would do it too.

Let me know how it turns out.

[Wiejeben]

Thanks for enabling this feature after all 🍪

[khalwat]

Yeah it actually ends up being a really good idea, I wish I'd done it sooner!