Find Database Character Set

Friends,
How to find "Database Character Set" of current database?

Hi,
SELECT * FROM DATABASE_PROPERTIES WHERE PROPERTY_NAME LIKE '%CHAR%SET%';Yoann.

Similar Messages

How to review implication of database character set change on PL/SQL code?

Hi,
We are converting WE8ISO8859P1 oracle db characterset to AL32UTF8. Before conversion, i want to check implication on PL/SQL code for byte based SQL functions.
What all points to consider while checking implications on PL/SQL code?
I could find 3 methods on google surfing, SUBSTRB, LENGTHB, INSTRB. What do I check if these methods are used in PL/SQL code?
What do we check if SUBSTR and LENGTH functions are being used in PL/SQl code?
What all other methods should I check?
What do I check in PL/SQL if varchar and char type declarations exist in code?
How do i check implication of database characterset change to AL32UTF8 for byte bases SQL function.
Thanks in Advance.
Regards,
Rashmi

There is no quick answer. Generally, the problem with PL/SQL code is that once you migrate from a single-byte character set (like WE8ISO8859P1) to a multibyte character set (like AL32UTF8), you can no longer assume that one character is one byte. Traditionally, column and PL/SQL variable lengths are expressed in bytes. Therefore, the same string of Western European accented letters may no longer fit into a column or variable after migration, as it may now be longer than the old limit (2 bytes per accented letter compared to 1 byte previously). Depending on how you dealt with column lengths during the migration, for example, if you migrated them to character length semantics, and depending on how relevant columns were declared (%TYPE vs explicit size), you may need to adjust maximum lengths of variables to accommodate longer strings.
The use of SUBSTR, INSTR, and LENGTH and their byte equivalents needs to be reviewed. You need to understand what the functions are used for. If the SUBSTR function is used to truncate a string to a maximum length of a variable, you may need to change it to SUBSTRB, if the variable's length constraint is still declared in bytes. However, if the variable's maximum length is now expressed in characters, SUBSTR needs to be used. However, if SUBSTR is used to extract a functional part of a string (e.g. during parsing), possibly based on result from INSTR, then you should use SUBSTR and INSTR independently of the database character set -- characters matter here, not bytes. On the other hand, if SUBSTR is used to extract a field in a SQL*Loader-like fixed-format input file (e.g. read with UTL_FILE), you may need to standardize on SUBSTRB to make sure that fields are extracted correctly based on defined byte boundaries.
As you see, there is universal recipe on handling these functions. Their use needs to be reviewed and understood and it should be decided if they are fine as-is or if they need to be replaced with other forms.
Thanks,
Sergiusz

How to find Client Character set?

Hi,
I need to connect to remote database which is having different character set than the client. Ia there any method to display client character and Database character set from SQL Plus? Could someone please help me.
Thanks in Advance
Sree.

I guess you're using PL/SQL Developer?
(because I get that warning message too ;) )
The warning also continues with:
You can set the client character set thought the NLS_LANG environment variable or the NLS_LANG registry key.
If I execute some scripts from client (client character set WE8MSWIN1252 and database character set UTF8) will
it cause any problem?It depends on what kind of data you're loading/importing. (chinese characters for example)
I never had any problems at all, since I'm not using 'exotic' characters.
You can find related threads on http://asktom.oracle.com/pls/asktom/asktom.search?p_string=%22UTF8%22
and more explanations in the Oracle Globalization Guide: http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B19306_01/server.102/b14225/toc.htm

Setting the database character set problem!

I'm sorry if this is beaten to death, I've read the FAQ and many questions in this forum and I didn't find it.
I want to change the database character set from the beginning. Where do I place the NLS_CHARACTERSET=EL8ISO8859P7 ?
I know I can alter the existing database character but EL8ISO8859P7 is not a superset of WE8ISO8859P1 and I don't want to go to Unicode yet...
Do I have to create a brand new database or can I just alter a script and restart it ?
I didn't find any nls_setting in the database creations, uh, wizard.
Please be as specific as possible because as you can understand I'm not what you can call a db expert...
Thank you.

which version of Oracle? these things change between versions.
v7 - update sys.props$ (unsupported!)
v8.0 - rebuild database
v8.1 - alter database change characterset
remember, backup and test before you do this on a used/production database!
good luck, Nogah.

Database character set migration rules

We have an application which migrates various entities from one database to the other. These databases could have different character sets. The migration process is automated. What character set rules should we follow while migration? Can we use the character set scanner is some automated way?
Does ORACLE publish a comprehensive list of subsets and supersets? (and I am NOT talking about strict subsets and supersets) I know that you have a whitepaper which has some rules but that is not a complete set. Any help would be much appreciated. This is an urgent requirement.

There is no simple answer as this is a complex process. You make reference to having looked at a whitepaper on this subject so I assume you know that your application will likely need to dynamically set the nls_lang setting so that proper conversion can take place on the database.
To find what character sets are subsets or supersets of what character sets?
A) The only listing available is in the 8.1.7 Document addendum shipped with the rdbms CD. This document can be found on the web at:
http://technet.oracle.com/docs/products/oracle8i/doc_index.htm
There is no real elegant way to determine possible lossy data situations programmically. Using the scanner to detect within your program whether proper conversion will take place might be possible. There is a documented v$ table that is updated when the scanner is run that could be examined
via SQL in your program to detect lossy data and truncation. You could also possibly use the PL/SQL convert function to detect lossy data. Something like if 'string' = convert('string', us7ascii, WE8MSWIN1252) then ....
Hope this helps.

CSSCAN for database character set conversion failing with ORA-01578

Hi ,
CSSCAN for database character set conversion failing with ORA-01578: ORACLE data block corrupted (file # 84, block # 23930). please help me out in this regard.
Thanks,
Sravan.

Hi Anand,
Thanks for your update. The segment is a table not an index in my case. And i got this error while running CSSCAN on Apps database for character set conversion to UTF8 from WE8ISO8859P1. Please find the snapshot below for your reference.
SQL> select segment_name, segment_type, owner from dba_extents where file_id = 84 and 23930 between block_id and block_id + blocks - 1;
SEGMENT_NAME
SEGMENT_TYPE OWNER
EDW_LOOKUP_M
TABLE POA
SQL> ANALYZE TABLE POA.EDW_LOOKUP_M VALIDATE STRUCTURE CASCADE;
ANALYZE TABLE POA.EDW_LOOKUP_M VALIDATE STRUCTURE CASCADE
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01578: ORACLE data block corrupted (file # 84, block # 23930)
ORA-01110: data file 84: '/d911/oracle/dbcondata/poad01.dbf'
Thanks,
Sravan.

Published database character set on system events channel,All processes hav

Hi to All,
Can anybody help me I had created database with DBCA and after that I had find this information alert.log file and I want to know about this
Database Characterset is AR8MSWIN1256
Wed Jun 24 13:42:04 2009
Published database character set on system events channel
Wed Jun 24 13:42:05 2009
All processes have switched to database character set
Regards,
imr

My advice would be to first look into these files, identify the most characteristic messages (that is, ignore informational messages about process number, session number, etc and look for something specific to the given file) and look for those messages in MetaLink. If you find nothing, open a Service Request and upload the files. But it seems to be common that some files with informational messages are generated by background processes in bdump. Foreground processes should not generate any trace files in udump without an error, though sometimes they do. You need to verify the files one by one and see which of them actually contains an error message and which seem to only contain diagnostic/tracing information.
If you do not get a satisfactory answer through the SR, you can also try Forums.
-- Sergiusz

Why that database Character set is required

character set is optional keyword while we create database
manually.
even If I didn't give character set it has taken itself automatically. why this is used for?
if we change the character using commands what will be the response.
let me.. know pls..
thank u

Hi,
From Oracle documentation :
Oracle's National Language Support (NLS) architecture allows you to store, process, and retrieve data in native languages. It ensures that database utilities and error messages, sort order, date, time, monetary, numeric, and calendar conventions automatically adapt to the native language and locale.
In some cases, you may wish to change the existing database character set. For instance, you may find that the number of languages that need to be supported in your database have increased. In most cases, you will need to do a full export/import to properly convert all data to the new character set. However, if, and only if, the new character set is a strict superset of the current character set, it is possible to use the ALTER DATABASE CHARACTER SET statement to expedite the change in the database character set.
The target character set is a strict superset if and only if each and every codepoint in the source character set is available in the target character set, with the same corresponding codepoint value.
Paolo

Changing database character set

Can anyone help with the way to change the database character set.
I am runn into problem while exporting with error message exp-00091
Thanks

You don't need to change the database character set. You have only to set the correct character set at
OS level before doing the export. Execute the following at Sql prompt as DBA :
SQL> select * from v$nls_parameters
2* where parameter in ('NLS_LANGUAGE', 'NLS_TERRITORY', 'NLS_CHARACTERSET')
SQL> /
PARAMETER            VALUE
NLS_LANGUAGE         AMERICAN
NLS_TERRITORY        AMERICA
NLS_CHARACTERSET     WE8ISO8859P15
SQL>then at OS prompt :
$ export NLS_LANG=AMERICAN_AMERICA.WE8ISO8859P15
$ exp ..............
Of course you have to use your values.

ORA-12709: error while loading create database character set

I installed Oracle 8.05 on Linux successfully: was able to login
whith SQLPlus, start and stop the db whith svrmgrl etc.
During this install I chose WE8ISO8859P9 as the database
characterset when prompted.
After that I installed Oracle Application Server 3.02, and now
I'm getting the
ORA-12709: error while loading create database character set
message when I try to start up the database, and the database
won't mount.
Platform is RedHat Linux 5.2.
NLS_LANG set to different settings,
e.g. AMERICAN_AMERICA.WE8ISO8859P9
but without success.
Anyone any clue?
Thanks!
null

Jogchum Reitsma (guest) wrote:
: I installed Oracle 8.05 on Linux successfully: was able to
login
: whith SQLPlus, start and stop the db whith svrmgrl etc.
: During this install I chose WE8ISO8859P9 as the database
: characterset when prompted.
: After that I installed Oracle Application Server 3.02, and now
: I'm getting the
: ORA-12709: error while loading create database character set
: message when I try to start up the database, and the database
: won't mount.
: Platform is RedHat Linux 5.2.
: NLS_LANG set to different settings,
: e.g. AMERICAN_AMERICA.WE8ISO8859P9
: but without success.
: Anyone any clue?
: Thanks!
You can create the database with WE8DEC character set
and to use the WE8ISO8859P9 on the client or even on Linux.
The NLS_LANG setting doesn't effect the database, but the
interface with the database. The same setting can be used in de
windows 95/98/NT registry.
null

ORA-12709: error while loading create database character set after upgrade

Dear All
i m getting ORA-12709: error while loading create database character set, After upgraded the database from 10.2.0.3 to 11.2.0.3 in ebusiness suit env.
current application version 12.0.6
please help me to resolve it.
SQL> startup;
ORACLE instance started.
Total System Global Area 1.2831E+10 bytes
Fixed Size 2171296 bytes
Variable Size 2650807904 bytes
Database Buffers 1.0133E+10 bytes
Redo Buffers 44785664 bytes
ORA-12709: error while loading create database character set
-bash-3.00$ echo $ORA_NLS10
/u01/oracle/PROD/db/teche_st/11.2.0/nls/data/9idata
export ORACLE_BASE=/u01/oracle
export ORACLE_HOME=/u01/oracle/PROD/db/tech_st/11.2.0
export PATH=$ORACLE_HOME/bin:$ORACLE_HOME/perl/bin:$PATH
export PERL5LIB=$ORACLE_HOME/perl/lib/5.10.0:$ORACLE_HOME/perl/site_perl/5.10.0
export ORA_NLS10=/u01/oracle/PROD/db/teche_st/11.2.0/nls/data/9idata
export ORACLE_SID=PROD
-bash-3.00$ pwd
/u01/oracle/PROD/db/tech_st/11.2.0/nls/data/9idata
-bash-3.00$ ls -lh |more
total 56912
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 951 Jan 15 16:05 lx00001.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 957 Jan 15 16:05 lx00002.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 959 Jan 15 16:05 lx00003.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 984 Jan 15 16:05 lx00004.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 968 Jan 15 16:05 lx00005.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 962 Jan 15 16:05 lx00006.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 960 Jan 15 16:05 lx00007.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 950 Jan 15 16:05 lx00008.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 940 Jan 15 16:05 lx00009.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 939 Jan 15 16:05 lx0000a.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 1006 Jan 15 16:05 lx0000b.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 1008 Jan 15 16:05 lx0000c.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 998 Jan 15 16:05 lx0000d.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 1005 Jan 15 16:05 lx0000e.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 926 Jan 15 16:05 lx0000f.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 1.0K Jan 15 16:05 lx00010.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 958 Jan 15 16:05 lx00011.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 956 Jan 15 16:05 lx00012.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 1005 Jan 15 16:05 lx00013.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 970 Jan 15 16:05 lx00014.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 950 Jan 15 16:05 lx00015.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 1.0K Jan 15 16:05 lx00016.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 957 Jan 15 16:05 lx00017.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 932 Jan 15 16:05 lx00018.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 932 Jan 15 16:05 lx00019.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 951 Jan 15 16:05 lx0001a.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 944 Jan 15 16:05 lx0001b.nlb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 953 Jan 15 16:05 lx0001c.nlb
Starting up:
Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition Release 11.2.0.3.0 - 64bit Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing options.
ORACLE_HOME = /u01/oracle/PROD/db/tech_st/11.2.0
System name: SunOS
Node name: proddb3.zakathouse.org
Release: 5.10
Version: Generic_147440-19
Machine: sun4u
Using parameter settings in server-side spfile /u01/oracle/PROD/db/tech_st/11.2.0/dbs/spfilePROD.ora
System parameters with non-default values:
processes = 200
sessions = 400
timed_statistics = TRUE
event = ""
shared_pool_size = 416M
shared_pool_reserved_size= 40M
nls_language = "american"
nls_territory = "america"
nls_sort = "binary"
nls_date_format = "DD-MON-RR"
nls_numeric_characters = ".,"
nls_comp = "binary"
nls_length_semantics = "BYTE"
memory_target = 11G
memory_max_target = 12G
control_files = "/u01/oracle/PROD/db/apps_st/data/cntrl01.dbf"
control_files = "/u01/oracle/PROD/db/tech_st/10.2.0/dbs/cntrl02.dbf"
control_files = "/u01/oracle/PROD/db/apps_st/data/cntrl03.dbf"
db_block_checksum = "TRUE"
db_block_size = 8192
compatible = "11.2.0.0.0"
log_archive_dest_1 = "LOCATION=/u01/oracle/PROD/db/apps_st/data/archive"
log_archive_format = "%t_%s_%r.dbf"
log_buffer = 14278656
log_checkpoint_interval = 100000
log_checkpoint_timeout = 1200
db_files = 512
db_file_multiblock_read_count= 8
db_recovery_file_dest = "/u01/oracle/fast_recovery_area"
db_recovery_file_dest_size= 14726M
log_checkpoints_to_alert = TRUE
dml_locks = 10000
undo_management = "AUTO"
undo_tablespace = "APPS_UNDOTS1"
db_block_checking = "FALSE"
session_cached_cursors = 500
utl_file_dir = "/usr/tmp"
utl_file_dir = "/usr/tmp"
utl_file_dir = "/u01/oracle/PROD/db/tech_st/10.2.0/appsutil/outbound"
utl_file_dir = "/u01/oracle/PROD/db/tech_st/10.2.0/appsutil/outbound/PROD_proddb3"
utl_file_dir = "/usr/tmp"
plsql_code_type = "INTERPRETED"
plsql_optimize_level = 2
job_queue_processes = 2
cursor_sharing = "EXACT"
parallel_min_servers = 0
parallel_max_servers = 8
core_dump_dest = "/u01/oracle/PROD/db/tech_st/10.2.0/admin/PROD_proddb3/cdump"
audit_file_dest = "/u01/oracle/admin/PROD/adump"
db_name = "PROD"
open_cursors = 600
pga_aggregate_target = 1G
workarea_size_policy = "AUTO"
optimizer_secure_view_merging= FALSE
aq_tm_processes = 1
olap_page_pool_size = 4M
diagnostic_dest = "/u01/oracle"
max_dump_file_size = "20480"
Tue Jan 15 16:16:02 2013
PMON started with pid=2, OS id=18608
Tue Jan 15 16:16:02 2013
PSP0 started with pid=3, OS id=18610
Tue Jan 15 16:16:03 2013
VKTM started with pid=4, OS id=18612 at elevated priority
VKTM running at (10)millisec precision with DBRM quantum (100)ms
Tue Jan 15 16:16:03 2013
GEN0 started with pid=5, OS id=18616
Tue Jan 15 16:16:03 2013
DIAG started with pid=6, OS id=18618
Tue Jan 15 16:16:03 2013
DBRM started with pid=7, OS id=18620
Tue Jan 15 16:16:03 2013
DIA0 started with pid=8, OS id=18622
Tue Jan 15 16:16:03 2013
MMAN started with pid=9, OS id=18624
Tue Jan 15 16:16:03 2013
DBW0 started with pid=10, OS id=18626
Tue Jan 15 16:16:03 2013
LGWR started with pid=11, OS id=18628
Tue Jan 15 16:16:03 2013
CKPT started with pid=12, OS id=18630
Tue Jan 15 16:16:03 2013
SMON started with pid=13, OS id=18632
Tue Jan 15 16:16:04 2013
RECO started with pid=14, OS id=18634
Tue Jan 15 16:16:04 2013
MMON started with pid=15, OS id=18636
Tue Jan 15 16:16:04 2013
MMNL started with pid=16, OS id=18638
DISM started, OS id=18640
ORACLE_BASE from environment = /u01/oracle
Tue Jan 15 16:16:08 2013
ALTER DATABASE MOUNT
ORA-12709 signalled during: ALTER DATABASE MOUNT...

ORA-12709 signalled during: ALTER DATABASE MOUNT...Do you have any trace files generated at the time you get this error?
Please see these docs.
ORA-12709: WHILE STARTING THE DATABASE [ID 1076156.6]
Upgrading from 9i to 10gR2 Fails With ORA-12709 : Error While Loading Create Database Character Set [ID 732861.1]
Ora-12709 While Trying To Start The Database [ID 311035.1]
ORA-12709 when Mounting the Database [ID 160478.1]
How to Move From One Database Character Set to Another at the Database Level [ID 1059300.6]
Thanks,
Hussein

Changing database character set from US7ASCII to AL32UTF8

Our database is running on Oracle database 10.1.0.4.0 (AIX) The following are its parameters:
SQL> select value from NLS_DATABASE_PARAMETERS where parameter='NLS_CHARACTERSET';
VALUE
US7ASCII
We would like to change the database character set to AL32UTF8. After following Metalink notes: 260192.1 (which helped us resolve "Lossy" and "Truncated" data, the final output of the CSSCAN utility is:
[Scan Summary]
All character type data in the data dictionary are convertible to the new character set
All character type application data are convertible to the new character set
[Data Dictionary Conversion Summary]
The data dictionary can be safely migrated using the CSALTER script
We have no (0) Truncation and Lossy entries on the .txt file. We only have Changeless and Convertible. Now accdg to the documentation, we can do a FULL EXP and FULL IMP. But it did not detail how to do the conversion on the same database. The discussion on the document tells how to do it from one database to another database. But how about on the same database?
We cannot use CSALTER as stated on the document.
(Step 6
Step 12
12.c) When using Csalter/Alter database to go to AL32UTF8 and there was NO "Truncation" data, only "Convertible" and "Changeless" in the csscan done in point 4:)
After performing a FULL export of the database, how can we change its character set? What do we need to do the the existing database to change its character set to AL32UTF8 before we import back our dump file into the same database?
Please help.

There you are! Thanks! Seems like I am right in my understanding about the Oracle Official Documentation. Thanks!
Hmmmmm...when you say:
*"you can do selective export of only convertible tables, truncate the tables, use CSALTER, and re-import."*
This means that:
1. After running csscan on database PROD, i will take note of the convertible tables in the .txt output file.
2. Perform selective EXPORT on PROD (EXP the convertible tables)
3. Truncate the convertible tables on PROD database
4. Use CSALTER on PROD database
5. Re-import the tables into PROD database
6. Housekeeping.
Will you tell me if these steps are the correct one? Based on our scenario: This is what i have understood referring to the Official Doc.
Am i correct?
I really appreciate your help Sergiusz.

Database character set = UTF-8, but mismatch error on XML file upload

Dear experts,
I am having problems trying to upload an XML file into an XMLType table. The Database is 9.2.0.5.0, with the character set details:
SELECT *
FROM SYS.PROPS$
WHERE name like '%CHA%';
Query results:
NLS_NCHAR_CHARACTERSET          UTF8     NCHAR Character set
NLS_SAVED_NCHAR_CS          UTF8
NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS          .,     Numeric characters
NLS_CHARACTERSET          UTF8     Character set
NLS_NCHAR_CONV_EXCP          FALSE     NLS conversion exception
To upload the XML file into the XMLType table, I am using the command:
insert into XMLTABLE
values(xmltype(getClobDocument('ServiceRequest.xml','UTF8')));
However, I get the error:
ORA-31011: XML parsing failed
ORA-19202: Error occurred in XML processing
LPX-00200: could not convert from encoding UTF-8 to UCS2
Error at line 1
ORA-06512: at "SYS.XMLTYPE", line 0
ORA-06512: at line 1
Why does it mention UCS2, as can't see that on the Database character set?
Many thanks for your help,
Mark

USC2 is known as AL16UTF16(LE/BE) by Oracle...
Try using AL32UTF8 as the character set name
AFAIK The main difference between Oracle's UTF8 and AL32UTF8 character set is that is the UTF8 character set does not support those UTF-8 characteres that require 4 bytes..
-Mark

Diffrent Database character sets?

Can I to set up Oracle streams between 2 db's with different database character sets? In my case It would be between a UTF8 and we8iso8859P1
// Daniel Austin

Yes you can.
Multiple Character Sets - http://www.oracle.com/pls/db102/to_URL?remark=ranked&urlname=http:%2F%2Fdownload.oracle.com%2Fdocs%2Fcd%2FB19306_01%2Fserver.102%2Fb14229%2Fha_streams.htm%23sthref873

Use of UTF8 and AL32UTF8 for database character set

I will be implementing Unicode on a 10g database, and am considering using AL32UTF8 as the database character set, as opposed to AL16UTF16 as the national character set, primarily to economize storage requirements for primarily English-based string data.
Is anyone aware of any issues, or tradeoffs, for implementing AL32UTF8 as the database character set, as opposed to using the national character set for storing Unicode data? I am aware of the fact that UTF-8 may require 3 bytes where UTF-16 would only require 2, so my question is more specific to the use of the database character set vs. the national character set, as opposed to differences between the encoding itself. (I realize that I could use UTF8 as the national character set, but don't want to lose the ability to store supplementary characters, which UTF8 does not support, as this Oracle character set supports up to Unicode 3.0 only.)
Thanks in advance for any counsel.

I don't have a lot of experience with SQL Server, but my belief is that a fair number of tools that handle SQL Server NCHAR/ NVARCHAR2 columns do not handle Oracle NCHAR/ NVARCHAR2 columns. I'm not sure if that's because of differences in the provided drivers, because of architectural differences, or because I don't have enough data points on the SQL Server side.
I've not run into any barriers, no. The two most common speedbumps I've seen are
- I generally prefer in Unicode databases to set NLS_LENGTH_SEMANTICS to CHAR so that a VARCHAR2(100) holds 100 characters rather than 100 bytes (the default). You could also declare the fields as VARCHAR2(100 CHAR), but I'm generally lazy.
- Making sure that the client NLS_LANG properly identifies the character set of the data going in to the database (and the character set of the data that the client wants to come out) so that Oracle's character set conversion libraries will work. If this is set incorrectly, all manner of grief can befall you. If your client NLS_LANG matches your database character set, for example, Oracle doesn't do a character set conversion, so if you have an application that is passing in Windows-1252 data, Oracle will store it using the same binary representation. If another application thinks that data is really UTF-8, the character set conversion will fail, causing it to display garbage, and then you get to go through the database to figure out which rows in which tables are affected and do a major cleanup. If you have multiple character sets inadvertently stored in the database (i.e. a few rows of Windows-1252, a few of Shift-JIS, and a few of UTF8), you'll have a gigantic mess to clean up. This is a concern whether you're using CHAR/ VARCHAR2 or NCHAR/ NVARCHAR2, and it's actually slightly harder with the N data types, but it's something to be very aware of.
Justin

Find Database Character Set

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