10.3.4. 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 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]]
Example:
CREATE TABLE Table1
(
column1 VARCHAR(5) CHARACTER SET latin1 COLLATE latin1_german1_ci
);
MySQL chooses the column character set and collation in the
following manner:
If both CHARACTER SET
X and COLLATE
Y were specified, then
character set X and collation
Y are used.
If CHARACTER SET
X was specified without
COLLATE, then character set
X and its default collation are
used.
If COLLATE Y
was specified without CHARACTER SET, then
the character set associated with
Y and collation
Y.
Otherwise, the table character set and collation are used.
The CHARACTER SET and
COLLATE clauses are standard SQL.
