Character Sets and Collation Orders (Language Reference Guide)

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CHAR, VARCHAR, and text Blob columns in InterBase can use many different character sets. A character set defines the symbols that can be entered as text in a column, and its also defines the maximum number of bytes of storage necessary to represent each symbol. In some character sets, such as ISO8859_1, each symbol requires only a single byte of storage. In others, such as UNICODE_FSS, each symbol requires from 1 to 3 bytes of storage.

Each character set also has an implicit collation order that specifies how its symbols are sorted and ordered. Some character sets also support alternative collation orders. In all cases, choice of character set limits choice of collation orders.

This chapter lists available character sets and their corresponding collation orders and describes how to specify:

• Default character set for an entire database.
• Alternative character set and collation order for a particular column in a table.
• Client application character set that the server should use when translating data between itself and the client.
• Collation order for a value in a comparison operation.
• Collation order in an ORDER BY or GROUP BY clause.

Topics

• InterBase Character Sets and Collation Orders
• Specifying Character Sets