unicode

Hi.
I have an application that should work in unicode. It is based on Oracle
(7.3.3/8.0.3) database, and the interfaces to and from the database are
written in C++ (by Pro*C/C++) and in Java applets (by Oracle JDBC thin driver).
(Both clients and servers are NT4.)

Now, I understand that I need to create a database with unicode character set (AL24UTFFSS or UTF8). These character sets however aren't pure unicode (16-bit) but utf-8 (variable width transformed unicode).

Should I transform the data in the client programs when interacting with the database, or this transformation is made automatically ? How ? Can I handle the data through Sql*Plus as well ? Does Pro*C supply datatypes for working with unicode? Does anyone have relevant sample code ?

Any help is very appreciated.
Thanks a lot.

--
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Oren Nakdimon
Golden Screens Ltd.
address: 17 Abba-Hillel st., Ramat-Gan 52522, ISRAEL
email:   oren_at_gsit.co.il
tel:     +972-3-7510836
fax:     +972-3-7518221
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