Re: Intenational character sets

On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 23:28:02 +0100, Sybrand Bakker <gooiditweg_at_sybrandb.verwijderdit.demon.nl> wrote:

>On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 13:07:49 -0600, Ed Stevens <nospam_at_noway.nohow>
>wrote:
>
>>===============
>>OMS does not have the database issue when the CHAR fields in the
>>database use a BYTE semantic. This is what was set when we developed
>>OMS. However, the CHAR fields were changed to use a CHAR semantic
>>since french characters use more then one byte. When this was changed
>>to the CHAR semantic, that is when the issue arised.
>>
>>I tested changing the database fields to a BYTE semantic again and OMS
>>does not have the issue. From there I changed it back to use the CHAR
>>semantic and recreated the mapping between the EJBs and database
>>again. Again the issue occurred. There is a flag in Websphere that
>>you can set for each field in an EJB to use the semantic CHAR or BYTE.
>>I have made sure this flag is set to CHAR when I performed this test.
>>
>>I see this as a issue between the mapping of a String field in the EJB
>>to a CHAR field in the database using the CHAR semantic.
>>=================
>
>
>Translated
>(and I don't know Websphere at all)
>Websphere needs a 2-byte characterset (so anything UTF) to store
>French characters (which is obviously quite ridiculous, as French
>characters are in any Latin-1 compatible 1-byte characterset)
>The database uses an one-byte characterset (or NLS_LANG on the
>webserver is set incorrectly)

Thanks for the reply. Immediately after my first post I started digging thru the docs. (I know that is usually backwards, but remember, my fundamental question was "where to start reading"?) After reading several relevant portions of "Database Globalization Support Guide" I've at least got some framework of understanding now. It looks like the database itself is well positioned for this, having bee created with characterset WE8ISO8859P1. My guess at this point is that their problem can be handled easily and elegantly with use of NLS_LANGUAGE on their end and they just need to be educated on that point. Unfortunately, at this point I still haven't gotten a response from the developers -- just their manages wanting to know when *I* am going to fix their problem!

Film at eleven ..... ;-)
Thanks.

• Ed Stevens

Cohn's Law: The more time you spend in reporting on what you are doing, the less time you have to do anything. Stability is achieved when you spend all your time doing nothing but reporting on the nothing you are doing. Received on Mon Jan 31 2005 - 07:20:12 CST