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Thread: National Characterset

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    National Characterset

    I am using 9.i.
    1. To change the National CharacterSet in an existing database, do I have to use the ALTER DATABASE NATIONAL CHARACTERSET .... command and then restart the DB ?
    2. And also is it a requirement that the National Characterset should be equivalent to or a subset of the database characterset ?

    Thanks.

  2. #2
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    Believe there are only 2 National Character sets available at 9i and above - AL16UTF16 and UTF8 - have a look at section 6 of Note 276914.1 on Metalink if you want to change from AL16UTF16 to UTF8: http://metalink.oracle.com/metalink/...1&p_showHelp=1

  3. #3
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    I do not have access to Metalink. I did look thru OTN but could not get a straight answer....And if my database characterset is WE8ISO8859P1, can I set my NLS characterset to be UTF8 - I am wondering as UTF8 is not a subset of WE8ISO8859P1.
    Last edited by rshivagami; 07-14-2004 at 10:01 AM.

  4. #4
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    Heres section 6 of the doc (AL16UTF16 is the default National Character set at 9i):

    6) Can I change the AL16UTF16 to UTF8 / I hear that there are problems with AL16UTF16.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    a) If you do *not* use N-types then there is NO problem at all with AL16UTF16
    because you are simply not using it and we advice the keep
    the default AL16UTF16 NLS_NCHAR_CHARACTERSET.
    b) If you *do* use N-types then there will be a problem with 8i clients and
    lower accessing the N-type columns (note that you will NOT have a problem
    selecting from "normal" non-N-type columns).
    More info about that is found there:
    [NOTE:140014.1] ALERT Oracle8/8i to Oracle9i/10g using New "AL16UTF16" National Character Set
    [NOTE:236231.1] New Character Sets Not Supported For Use With Developer 6i And Older Versions
    If this is a situation you find yourself in we recommend to simply use UTF8
    as NLS_NCHAR_CHARACTERSET.
    C) You can change from AL16UTF16 to UTF8 (or inverse) following these steps:
    1. Make sure the parallel_server parameter in INIT.ORA is set to false or it is not set at all.
    If you are using RAC see
    [NOTE:221646.1] Changing the Character Set for a RAC Database Fails with an ORA-12720 Error
    2. Execute the following commands in sqlplus connected as "/ AS SYSDBA":
    SPOOL Nswitch.log
    SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE;
    STARTUP MOUNT;
    ALTER SYSTEM ENABLE RESTRICTED SESSION;
    ALTER SYSTEM SET JOB_QUEUE_PROCESSES=0;
    ALTER SYSTEM SET AQ_TM_PROCESSES=0;
    ALTER DATABASE OPEN;
    @RDBMS/ADMIN/N_SWITCH.SQL
    SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE;
    3. Restore the parallel_server parameter in INIT.ORA, if necessary.
    4. STARTUP;

    HTH

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