Re: European Characters

Ian Buzer <ianbNOiaSPAM_at_coolbop.demon.co.uk.invalid> wrote in message news:2c88bf12.2236457b_at_usw-ex0102-014.remarq.com...
> Hi,
>
> I'm currently working on a database that contains translations to
> english phrases in a number of different European languages.
>
> For the column containing the translations, do I need nvarchar2
> to cope with characters such as é ê ã Ö etc?
>
> It seems to be hanging together OK at the moment with the [web]
> application, but if I export the table data using TOAD, all the
> extended characters end up as squares, which kinda makes me
> nervous that they are going to get lost somewhere along the line.
>
> I'm using Oracle 7.3.4
>
> Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.
> Ian
>
>
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You state you are using 7.3.4. That is a bit strange because Oracle 7 doesn't have the nvarchar2 datatype.

Other than that,
This could both be caused by a database in an incorrect characterset, or incorrect settings of the NLS_LANG registry/environment variable. The correct characterset is American_America.WE8ISO8859P1. You can verify this by a select * from nls_database_parameters and or a select * from sys.props$.

The correct supported way to rectify this problem is to recreate the database.
The fast unsupported way is top update sys.props$.

Also you need to be sure the registry/environment variable NLS_LANG on the webserver is set to the value above, otherwise translation from 8-bit to 7-bit will occur.

Hth,

Sybrand Bakker, Oracle DBA Received on Sat Apr 01 2000 - 09:07:08 CST