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9.1.3.5 Character String Literal Character Set and Collation »
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9.1.3.4. Column Character Set and Collation

Every “character” column (that is, a column of type CHAR, VARCHAR, or TEXT) has a column character set and a column collation. Column definition syntax for CREATE TABLE and ALTER TABLE has optional clauses for specifying the column character set and collation: 

col_name {CHAR | VARCHAR | TEXT} (col_length)
    [CHARACTER SET charset_name]
    [COLLATE collation_name]

These clauses can also be used for ENUM and SET columns: 

col_name {ENUM | SET} (val_list)
    [CHARACTER SET charset_name]
    [COLLATE collation_name]

Examples: 

CREATE TABLE t1
(
    col1 VARCHAR(5)
      CHARACTER SET latin1
      COLLATE latin1_german1_ci
);

ALTER TABLE t1 MODIFY
    col1 VARCHAR(5)
      CHARACTER SET latin1
      COLLATE latin1_swedish_ci;

MySQL chooses the column character set and collation in the following manner:

  • If both CHARACTER SET X and COLLATE Y are specified, character set X and collation Y are used. 

    CREATE TABLE t1
(
    col1 CHAR(10) CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci
) CHARACTER SET latin1 COLLATE latin1_bin;

    The character set and collation are specified for the column, so they are used. The column has character set utf8 and collation utf8_unicode_ci.

  • If CHARACTER SET X is specified without COLLATE, character set X and its default collation are used. 

    CREATE TABLE t1
(
    col1 CHAR(10) CHARACTER SET utf8
) CHARACTER SET latin1 COLLATE latin1_bin;

    The character set is specified for the column, but the collation is not. The column has character set utf8 and the default collation for utf8, which is utf8_general_ci. To see the default collation for each character set, use the SHOW COLLATION statement.

  • If COLLATE Y is specified without CHARACTER SET, the character set associated with Y and collation Y are used. 

    CREATE TABLE t1
(
    col1 CHAR(10) COLLATE utf8_polish_ci
) CHARACTER SET latin1 COLLATE latin1_bin;

    The collation is specified for the column, but the character set is not. The column has collation utf8_polish_ci and the character set is the one associated with the collation, which is utf8.

  • Otherwise, the table character set and collation are used. 

    CREATE TABLE t1
(
    col1 CHAR(10)
) CHARACTER SET latin1 COLLATE latin1_bin;

    Neither the character set nor collation are specified for the column, so the table defaults are used. The column has character set latin1 and collation latin1_bin.

The CHARACTER SET and COLLATE clauses are standard SQL.

If you use ALTER TABLE to convert a column from one character set to another, MySQL attempts to map the data values, but if the character sets are incompatible, there may be data loss.


User Comments

Posted by Drew Folta on December 18 2005 7:51pm[Delete] [Edit]

To change the character set (and collation) for all columns in an existing table, use...
ALTER TABLE tbl_name CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET charset_name [COLLATE collation_name];

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