This page allows you to define the character sets used by the Oracle Database. Specifically, you can define the:
The following sections provide more information on these options.
Character sets are the encoding schemes used to display characters on the computer screen. Choosing a character set determines what languages can be represented in the database. It also affects:
How you create the database schema
How you develop applications that process character data
How the database works with the operating system
Performance
Storage required when storing character data
The Oracle Database uses the Database Character Set for these items:
Data stored in CHAR datatypes (CHAR, VARCHAR2, CLOB, and LONG)
Identifiers such as table names, column names, and PL/SQL variables
The following table describes the character set options you can select on this page.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Use the Default | Select this option if you need to support only the language that is currently used by the operating system for all your database users, and your database applications. |
| Use Unicode (AL32UTF8) | Select this option if you need to support multiple languages for your database users and your database applications. For information about supporting multilingual databases with Unicode, see the Oracle Database Globalization Support Guide . |
| Choose from the list of character sets |
Select this option if you want the Oracle Database to use a character set other than the default character set used by the operating system. Select the Show recommended character sets only check box if you want the character set dropdown list to show only the Oracle recommended character sets. Note: This check box is selected by default. For an explanation of the character sets listed in the drop-down list, see the Oracle Database Globalization Support Guide . |
A national character set is an alternate character set that enables you to store Unicode characters in a database that does not have a Unicode database character set. Other reasons for choosing a National Character Set include:
The properties of a different character encoding scheme may be more desirable for extensive character processing operations
Programming in the national character set is easier
Your choice of National Character Set has no impact on your Database Character Set. For more information on choosing a National Character Set, see the Oracle Database Globalization Support Guide.
The default language setting determines how the database supports locale-sensitive information such as the following:
Day and month names and their abbreviations
Symbols for equivalent expressions for A.M., P.M., A.D., and B.C.
Default sorting sequence for character data when the ORDER BY SQL clause is specified
Writing direction (left or right)
Affirmative and negative response strings (for example, YES and NO)
Select the default language from the drop-down menu. For a complete list of the supported languages, as well as more information about local-sensitive information in the Oracle Database, see the Oracle Database Globalization Support Guide.
Different conventions for displaying the hour, day, month, and year can be
handled in local formats. For example, in the United Kingdom, the date is displayed
using the DD-MON-YYYY format,
while Japan commonly uses the
YYYY-MM-DD
format.
Select the default date format from the drop-down menu.
Note: The Oracle Database can also be configured to support time zones and daylight savings time. For more information, see the Oracle Database Globalization Support Guide.
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