Troubleshooting: Data appears encoded

When you take a look at the data saved in your database directly, you’ll notice that the information appears encoded. For example, you might see something like this:

objectid  |  var1  |  var2            |  var3 
-------------------------------------------------------
2         |  666   |   dmFyMg==       |  dmFyMw== 

and you were expecting something like this instead:

objectid  |  var1  |  var2            |  var3 
-------------------------------------------------------
2         |  666   |   var2           |  var3 

This occurs because POG automatically encodes your data before it is stored in the database and decodes it when it’s retrieved. The encoding and decoding format used is Base 64. The data is encoded/decoded to protect your web application from SQL injection attacks. It also allows saves the end-user from having to explicitly escape the data. However, it does have its price: data encoded in base 64 takes 33% more space than unencoded data.

There are many online base 64 encoders/decoders that you can use to decode the data manually.

For more information on the Escape functions, take a look at this article from the POG weblog.