title: Codeigniter 3 not connecting to sqlserver database
body: <p>Simple question. With Codeigniter 2.x.x I had no problems in connecting to a MS SQLServer database. I have now upgraded to Codeigniter 3 and I get this error:</p>
  
  <pre><code>A Database Error Occurred
  
  Unable to set client connection character set: utf8
  
  Filename: core/CodeIgniter.php
  
  Line Number: 500
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Here is my database.php config file:</p>
  
  <p><strong>Codeigniter 2.x.x --> it works</strong></p>
  
  <pre><code>$active_group = 'default';
  $active_record = TRUE;
  
  $db['default']['hostname'] = 'XXX';
  $db['default']['username'] = 'XXX';
  $db['default']['password'] = 'XXX';
  $db['default']['database'] = 'XXX';
  $db['default']['dbdriver'] = 'mssql';
  $db['default']['dbprefix'] = '';
  $db['default']['pconnect'] = FALSE;
  $db['default']['db_debug'] = TRUE;
  $db['default']['cache_on'] = FALSE;
  $db['default']['cachedir'] = '';
  $db['default']['char_set'] = 'utf8';
  $db['default']['dbcollat'] = 'utf8_general_ci';
  $db['default']['swap_pre'] = '';
  $db['default']['autoinit'] = TRUE;
  $db['default']['stricton'] = FALSE;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p><strong>Codeigniter 3 --> error</strong></p>
  
  <pre><code>$active_group = 'default';
  $query_builder = TRUE;
  
      $db['default'] = array(
          'dsn'   =&gt; '',
          'hostname' =&gt; 'XXX',
          'username' =&gt; 'XXX',
          'password' =&gt; 'XXX',
          'database' =&gt; 'XXX',
          'dbdriver' =&gt; 'mssql',
          'dbprefix' =&gt; '',
          'pconnect' =&gt; FALSE,
          'db_debug' =&gt; TRUE,
          'cache_on' =&gt; FALSE,
          'cachedir' =&gt; '',
          'char_set' =&gt; 'utf8',
          'dbcollat' =&gt; 'utf8_general_ci',
          'swap_pre' =&gt; '',
          'encrypt' =&gt; FALSE,
          'compress' =&gt; FALSE,
          'stricton' =&gt; FALSE,
          'failover' =&gt; array(),
          'save_queries' =&gt; TRUE
      );
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Any ideas? Thanks.</p>
  
  <p>Further test include using the <strong>sqlsrv</strong> driver but I get this error:</p>
  
  <pre><code>A PHP Error was encountered
  
  Severity: Runtime Notice
  
  Message: Declaration of CI_DB_sqlsrv_driver::_limit() should be compatible with that of CI_DB_query_builder::_limit()
  
  Filename: sqlsrv/sqlsrv_driver.php
  
  Line Number: 459
  
  A PHP Error was encountered
  
  Severity: Runtime Notice
  
  Message: Declaration of CI_DB_sqlsrv_driver::_delete() should be compatible with that of CI_DB_query_builder::_delete()
  
  Filename: sqlsrv/sqlsrv_driver.php
  
  Line Number: 459
  
  A PHP Error was encountered
  
  Severity: Runtime Notice
  
  Message: Declaration of CI_DB_sqlsrv_driver::_update() should be compatible with that of CI_DB_driver::_update()
  
  Filename: sqlsrv/sqlsrv_driver.php
  
  Line Number: 459
  </code></pre>