10.3.3. Table Character Set and Collation
Every table has a table character set and a table collation. The
CREATE TABLE and ALTER
TABLE statements have optional clauses for specifying
the table character set and collation:
CREATE TABLE tbl_name (column_list)
[[DEFAULT] CHARACTER SET charset_name] [COLLATE collation_name]]
ALTER TABLE tbl_name
[[DEFAULT] CHARACTER SET charset_name] [COLLATE collation_name]
Example:
CREATE TABLE t1 ( ... ) CHARACTER SET latin1 COLLATE latin1_danish_ci;
MySQL chooses the table 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.
If CHARACTER SET
X was specified without
COLLATE, then character set
X and its default collation.
If COLLATE Y
was specified without CHARACTER SET, then
the character set associated with
Y and collation
Y.
Otherwise, the database character set and collation.
The table character set and collation are used as default values
if the column character set and collation are not specified in
individual column definitions. The table character set and
collation are MySQL extensions; there are no such things in
standard SQL.
