module LHC::FixInvalidEncodingConcern::ClassMethods

def fix_invalid_encoding(string)

an empty string is returned instead
should none of the fix-attempts be successful,
fix strings that contain non-UTF8 encoding in a forceful way 
def fix_invalid_encoding(string)
  return string unless string.is_a?(String)
  result = string.dup
  # we assume it's ISO-8859-1 first
  if !result.valid_encoding? || !utf8?(result)
    result.encode!('UTF-8', 'ISO-8859-1', invalid: :replace, undef: :replace, replace: '')
  end
  # if it's still an issue, try with BINARY
  if !result.valid_encoding? || !utf8?(result)
    result.encode!('UTF-8', 'BINARY', invalid: :replace, undef: :replace, replace: '')
  end
  # if its STILL an issue, return an empty string :(
  if !result.valid_encoding? || !utf8?(result)
    result = ""
  end
  result
end

def utf8?(string) 

def utf8?(string)
  string.encoding == Encoding::UTF_8
end