# phpman > man > Encode::Unicode::UTF7

## NAME
    [Encode::Unicode::UTF7](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Encode%3A%3AUnicode%3A%3AUTF7/markdown) -- UTF-7 encoding

## SYNOPSIS
        use Encode qw/encode decode/;
        $utf7 = encode("UTF-7", $utf8);
        $utf8 = decode("UTF-7", $ucs2);

## ABSTRACT
    This module implements UTF-7 encoding documented in RFC 2152. UTF-7, as its name suggests, is a
    7-bit re-encoded version of UTF-16BE. It is designed to be MTA-safe and expected to be a
    standard way to exchange Unicoded mails via mails. But with the advent of UTF-8 and 8-bit
    compliant MTAs, UTF-7 is hardly ever used.

    UTF-7 was not supported by Encode until version 1.95 because of that. But [Unicode::String](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Unicode%3A%3AString/markdown), a
    module by Gisle Aas which adds Unicode supports to non-utf8-savvy perl did support UTF-7, the
    UTF-7 support was added so Encode can supersede [Unicode::String](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Unicode%3A%3AString/markdown) 100%.

## In Practice
    When you want to encode Unicode for mails and web pages, however, do not use UTF-7 unless you
    are sure your recipients and readers can handle it. Very few MUAs and WWW Browsers support these
    days (only Mozilla seems to support one). For general cases, use UTF-8 for message body and
    MIME-Header for header instead.

## SEE ALSO
    Encode, [Encode::Unicode](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Encode%3A%3AUnicode/markdown), [Unicode::String](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/Unicode%3A%3AString/markdown)

    RFC 2781 <<http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2152.txt>>