Index: lams_tool_laqa/test/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/tool/qa/dbConnection.properties
===================================================================
diff -u -r16e844de3f7c34b44baee1b28e67e708f42d00bf -r76b1acf47603af9919ddf13958552620bcf14c03
--- lams_tool_laqa/test/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/tool/qa/dbConnection.properties	(.../dbConnection.properties)	(revision 16e844de3f7c34b44baee1b28e67e708f42d00bf)
+++ lams_tool_laqa/test/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/tool/qa/dbConnection.properties	(.../dbConnection.properties)	(revision 76b1acf47603af9919ddf13958552620bcf14c03)
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
 
 #jdbc configuration
 jdbc.driverClassName=org.gjt.mm.mysql.Driver
-jdbc.url=jdbc:mysql://localhost/lams
+jdbc.url=jdbc:mysql://localhost/lams?characterEncoding=utf8&zeroDateTimeBehavior=convertToNull&autoReconnect=true
+
 jdbc.username=root
 jdbc.password=root