Escape Data In/Out of db

Hi gang: I'm gathering information from a user, storing that data in a db, and then showing it back to the user. It's a simple process and can bee seen here in this address book demo (not real people): http://php1.net/a/edit-db-demo I gather information from the user via a $_POST[]; like this: $last_name = trim($_POST['last_name']); Then I pass it through mysql_real_escape_string() like so -- $last_name = mysql_real_escape_string($last_name); -- and then I put that data into my table via an UPDATE. Then when I pull data from the table, I do this -- $last_name = htmlentities($row['last_name']); -- and show that data to the user. That's what I'm supposed to do right? So, why is it that when I enter the name "O'Brian", the entry comes back "O/'Brian"? So what's wrong and how do I fix it? Cheers, tedd PS: I know that I'm supposed to know this, but that part of my brain is on vacation -- I can't afford for all of me to go on vacation at one time. -- ------- http://sperling.com http://ancientstones.com http://earthstones.com