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Updated on 2024-04-26 GMT+08:00
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How Do I View and Set the Database Character Encoding?

Viewing the Database Character Encoding

Use the server_encoding parameter to check the character set encoding of the current database. For example, the character encoding of database music is UTF8.

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music=> SHOW server_encoding;
 server_encoding
-----------------
 UTF8
(1 row)

Setting the Database Character Encoding

GaussDB(DWS) does not support the modification of the character encoding format of a created database.

If you need to specify the character encoding format of a database, use template0 and the CREATE DATABASE syntax to create a database. To make your database compatible with most characters, you are advised to use the UTF8 encoding when creating a database.

CREATE DATABASE syntax

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CREATE DATABASE database_name
    [ [ WITH ] { [ OWNER [=] user_name ] |
               [ TEMPLATE [=] template ] |
               [ ENCODING [=] encoding ] |
               [ LC_COLLATE [=] lc_collate ] |
               [ LC_CTYPE [=] lc_ctype ] |
               [ DBCOMPATIBILITY [=] compatibility_type ] |
               [ CONNECTION LIMIT [=] connlimit ]}[...] ];
  • TEMPLATE [ = ] template

    Indicates the template name, that is, the name of the template to be used to create the database. GaussDB(DWS) creates a database by copying a database template. GaussDB(DWS) has two initial template databases template0 and template1 and a default user database gaussdb.

    Value range: an existing database name. If this is not specified, the system copies template1 by default. Its value cannot be gaussdb.

    Currently, database templates cannot contain sequences. If sequences exist in the template library, database creation will fail.

  • ENCODING [ = ] encoding

    Character encoding used by the database. The value can be a character string (for example, SQL_ASCII') or an integer number.

    If this parameter is not specified, the encoding of the template database is used by default. The encoding of template databases template0 and template1 depends on the OS by default. The character encoding of template1 cannot be changed. To change the encoding, use template0 to create a database.

    Value range: GBK, UTF8, and Latin1

    The character set encoding of the new database must be compatible with the local settings (LC_COLLATE and LC_CTYPE).

Examples

Create database music using UTF8 (the local encoding type is also UTF8).

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CREATE DATABASE music ENCODING 'UTF8' template = template0;
Parent topic: Database Usage

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