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- 10.3.1 Collation Naming Conventions
- 10.3.2 Server Character Set and Collation
- 10.3.3 Database Character Set and Collation
- 10.3.4 Table Character Set and Collation
- 10.3.5 Column Character Set and Collation
- 10.3.6 Character String Literal Character Set and Collation
- 10.3.7 The National Character Set
- 10.3.8 Character Set Introducers
- 10.3.9 Examples of Character Set and Collation Assignment
- 10.3.10 Compatibility with Other DBMSs
There are default settings for character sets and collations at four levels: server, database, table, and column. The description in the following sections may appear complex, but it has been found in practice that multiple-level defaulting leads to natural and obvious results.
CHARACTER SET
is used in clauses that specify a
character set. CHARSET
can be used as a synonym
for CHARACTER SET
.
Character set issues affect not only data storage, but also
communication between client programs and the MySQL server. If you
want the client program to communicate with the server using a
character set different from the default, you'll need to indicate
which one. For example, to use the utf8mb4
Unicode character set, issue this statement after connecting to
the server:
SET NAMES 'utf8mb4';
For more information about character set-related issues in client/server communication, see Section 10.4, “Connection Character Sets and Collations”.