Default charset in sqlserver 2000? / jtds

Hi,

I am writing to a text column in my SQL Server 2000 database. The text
comes from a web form in my java web application, where the character
encoding is ISO-8859-1. (I have no control over the charset, my app is
a plugin inside another app.)
Characters such as (ascii 128) and '(ascii 146) are inserted into
the db as '?'.

I'm connecting using the free jtds driver, and I'm not specifying any
details about charsets in my usage of the driver.

Can anyone tell me what the default charset in sqlserver 2000 is?
Should I be specifying this charset when using my driver?
Thanks.downlode@.gmail.com wrote:
> Hi,
> I am writing to a text column in my SQL Server 2000 database. The text
> comes from a web form in my java web application, where the character
> encoding is ISO-8859-1. (I have no control over the charset, my app is
> a plugin inside another app.)
> Characters such as (ascii 128) and '(ascii 146) are inserted into
> the db as '?'.
> I'm connecting using the free jtds driver, and I'm not specifying any
> details about charsets in my usage of the driver.
> Can anyone tell me what the default charset in sqlserver 2000 is?
> Should I be specifying this charset when using my driver?
> Thanks.

You probably want to use ntext instead of text, nvarchar instead of
varchar, etc.|||(downlode@.gmail.com) writes:
> I am writing to a text column in my SQL Server 2000 database. The text
> comes from a web form in my java web application, where the character
> encoding is ISO-8859-1. (I have no control over the charset, my app is
> a plugin inside another app.)
> Characters such as ?(ascii 128) and '(ascii 146) are inserted into
> the db as '?'.

Hm, in iso-8859-1, the slots 128-159 not graphic characters. In Windows-
1252, Microsoft's extension of 8859-1, some of them are indeed graphic.

> I'm connecting using the free jtds driver, and I'm not specifying any
> details about charsets in my usage of the driver.
> Can anyone tell me what the default charset in sqlserver 2000 is?

No, because this depends on the regional settings of the machine. For
instance, if I install SQL Server on my machine, and do not make any
selection, I will get Finnish_Swedish_CI_AS, which implies code page
1252. People in Poland are likely to get Polish_CI_AS, which implies
code page 1250. And that's only the default. This can be overridden
at installation. And then the collation can be set independently by
column.

So start doing

SELECT serverproperty('Collation') -- Server default collation.
SELECT databasepropertyex('db', 'Collation') -- Database default

And then use sp_help to determine the coilations of the columns you
are working with. If you don't know which code page a certain collation
has, there is a function Collationproperty() for this.

If the columns are of different code pages, you will have to use
Unicode somewhere on the way, and as Trevor said, ntext nvarchar are
probably better options.

--
Erland Sommarskog, SQL Server MVP, esquel@.sommarskog.se

Books Online for SQL Server SP3 at
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techin.../2000/books.asp|||Hi,
sorry for the late follow up to this.
My database has the same collation throughout -
SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS
The columns share this collation.
Even when I use a preparedStatement, ensuring that the outgoing text is
treated as Unicode by the free jtds driver, I get the same problems.

I am stumped by this one.

If I change my text column to an ntext column, will this affect the
existing entries?
Thanks,
Mike|||(downlode@.gmail.com) writes:
> sorry for the late follow up to this.
> My database has the same collation throughout -
> SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS
> The columns share this collation.
> Even when I use a preparedStatement, ensuring that the outgoing text is
> treated as Unicode by the free jtds driver, I get the same problems.
> I am stumped by this one.

Since SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS is share code page with iso-8859-1,
it's indeed a little funny. But as I noted in my previous post, the
characters you have problem with are not in iso-8859-1 - these code
points are control characters to 8859-1. In Windows Latin-1 they are
indeed printable characters.

My guess is that the free jtds takes a strict definiton of what is
8859-1. But I don't it, so you should inquire in a forum for that driver.

> If I change my text column to an ntext column, will this affect the
> existing entries?

No.

--
Erland Sommarskog, SQL Server MVP, esquel@.sommarskog.se

Books Online for SQL Server 2005 at
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pr...oads/books.mspx
Books Online for SQL Server 2000 at
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodin...ions/books.mspxsql