Re: NLS language questions

Ku Kam Ming wrote:
>
> I created a database using US7ASCII as character set.
>
> I tried to input some Chinese characters (8-bit double byte) . It
> works! Even select statment!
>
> I would like to know to what happens if using a wrong character set.
> And would like to know where I can get more info. about charcater set
> in ORACLE.
>
> If I want to change the startup default character set, should I
> re-build the database?
>

   Replacement charactes may take in effect now.

   If you use a wrong character set, it loses the representation of the character in the database. Later, if you use the correct character set, you will find it does not work properly for your current data. For example, you cannot display it by using the correct character set.

   You should re-build the database if you want to change the character set. Alternatively, you can update the PROPS$ table in data dictionary. But, it is highly not recommended as this may corrupt your database.

-- 
Name        : Lun Wing San
Title       : Senior Consultant of Lun's Oracle Solution Company
              System Administrator and Oracle DBA of the Quick Response Center
              Oracle Developer of the Hong Kong Productivity Council
Email Addr. : sunny_at_hkpc.org
Telephone   : 852-2788-5841