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Connections, Character Sets and Strings
By: O'Reilly Media
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    2007-08-31

    Table of Contents:
  • Connections, Character Sets and Strings
  • 5.4 Writing String Literals
  • 5.5 Checking a String’s Character Set or Collation
  • 5.6 Changing a String’s Character Set or Collation

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    Connections, Character Sets and Strings - 5.6 Changing a String’s Character Set or Collation


    (Page 4 of 4 )

    Problem

    You want to convert a string from one character set or collation to another.

    Solution

    Use the CONVERT() function to convert a string to another character set. Use the COLLATE operator to convert a string to another collation.

    Discussion

    To convert a string from one character set to another, use the CONVERT() function:

      mysql> SET @s1 = 'my string';
      mysql> SET @s2 = CONVERT(@s1 USING utf8);
      mysql> SELECT CHARSET(@s1), CHARSET(@s2);
      +--------------+--------------
    +
      | CHARSET(@s1)   | CHARSET(@s2)   |
      +----------------+----------------+
      | latin1         | utf8           |
      +----------------+----------------+

    To change the collation of a string, use the COLLATE operator:

    Changing a String’s Character Set or Collation

      mysql> SET @s1 = 'my string';
      mysql> SET @s2 = @s1 COLLATE latin1_spanish_ci;
      mysql> SELECT COLLATION(@s1), COLLATION(@s2);

    +-------------------+-------------------+
    | COLLATION(@s1)    | COLLATION(@s2)    |
    +-------------------+-------------------+
    | latin1_swedish_ci | latin1_spanish_ci |
    +-------------------+-------------------+

    The new collation must be legal for the character set of the string. For example, you can use the utf8_general_ci collation with utf8 strings, but not with latin1 strings:

      mysql> SELECT _latin1 'abc' COLLATE utf8_bin;
      ERROR 1253 (42000): COLLATION 'utf8_bin' is not valid for
      CHARACTER SET 'latin1'

    To convert both the character set and collation of a string, use CONVERT() to change the character set, and apply the COLLATE operator to the result:

      mysql> SET @s1 = 'my string';
      mysql> SET @s2 = CONVERT(@s1 USING utf8) COLLATE utf8_spanish_ci;
      mysql> SELECT CHARSET(@s1), COLLATION(@s1), CHARSET(@s2), COLLATION(@s2);

     

    CHARSET(@s1)  COLLATION(@s1)  CHARSET(@s2)  COLLATION(@s2)

     

     latin1  latin1_swedish_ci utf8  utf8_spanish_ci

     

    The CONVERT() function can also be used to convert binary strings to nonbinary strings and vice versa. To produce a binary string, use binary; any other character set name produces a nonbinary string:

    The function can also be used to convert binary strings to nonbinary strings and vice versa. To produce a binary string, use ; any other character set name produces a nonbinary string:

      mysql> SET @s1 = 'my string';
      mysql> SET @s2 = CONVERT(@s1 USING binary);
      mysql> SET @s3 = CONVERT(@s2 USING utf8);
      mysql> SELECT CHARSET(@s1), CHARSET(@s2), CHARSET(@s3);

     

     CHARSET(@s1)  CHARSET(@s2)  CHARSET(@s3)

     

     latin1  binary utf8 

     

    Alternatively, you can produce binary strings using the BINARY operator, which is equivalent to
    CONVERT(str USING binary):

      mysql> SET @s1 = 'my string';
      mysql> SET @s2 = BINARY @s2;
      mysql> SELECT CHARSET(@s1), CHARSET(@s2);
      +--------------+--------------
    +
      | CHARSET(@s1)   | CHARSET(@s2)   |
      +----------------+----------------+
      | latin1         | binary         |
      +----------------+----------------+

    Please check back next week for the continuation of this article.


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