Each client uses a particular character set during a session to transmit user data. The client character set maps each character in the client to an equivalent character in the server set.
Vantage translates data strings received from a client into the server, or internal, character set for storage and processing, and translates it back to the client character set when exporting response data to the client. This translation allows clients using different character sets to access and modify the same stored data.
Vantage offers many predefined client character sets (along with the codes for the appropriate collation sequences). However, you can also define and install your own character set translations and collations on the server and flag those currently desired as available for use. You can assign an active character set as the default for a client and also activate up to a maximum of 16 client character sets.
Viewing the Status of Client Character Sets
Use the following views to determine the current status of installed character sets.
| View Name | Description |
|---|---|
| DBC.CharTranslationsV | Displays the names of installed character sets. Each name identifies the set of translation tables needed to define the external-internal character mapping for one language. They can be predefined, or created by you. Because they are permanently loaded and available, the ASCII, EBCDIC, UTF-8, and UTF-16 character sets are not reported.
|
| DBC.CharSetsV | Displays the names of the character sets you flagged in the DBC.Translations table as the ones to activate during a tpareset. These are currently active and available to users at the session level only if a tpareset was performed after you set the flags. A name in this view and CharTranslationsV does not prove that it is active. The InstallFlag column in CharTranslationsV is an indication, but can be misleading if the table was changed without a tpareset.
|
| DBC.HostsInfoV | Displays the names of the character sets you assigned as the client defaults, by host. |
- ASCII
- EBCDIC
- UTF-8
- UTF-16
For more information on mapping and collation codes, see International Character Set Support, B035-1125. For IBM mainframe clients, see TDP Functionality and Teradata® Director Program Reference, B035-2416.
For more information on enabling Unicode pass through characters in Teradata, see International Character Set Support, B035-1125 or Loading Unicode Data with Unicode Pass Through.
For a complete description of the views described in the previous table, see Teradata Vantage™ - Data Dictionary, B035-1092.