Help me understand sorting

From: William Wagman <wjwagman_at_ucdavis.edu>
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2007 13:16:02 -0800
Message-ID: <FE043305B38A0F448F3924429D650C2AF5D49F@VEXBE2.ex.ad3.ucdavis.edu>

Greetings,

I am hoping someone can help me understand how NLS_SORT influences sorting or point me at documentation which will explain things. I don't understand it. Here is the scenario...

SQL> show parameter nls_sort

NAME                                 TYPE


------------------------------------ --------------------------------

VALUE

---

nls_sort                             string

GENERIC_BASELETTER A select statement appears to ignore case...

SQL> select * from dba_roles where role = 'connect';

ROLE                           PASSWORD


------------------------------ --------

CONNECT                        NO

Now if I set NLS_SORT=binary...

SQL> alter session set nls_sort=binary;
Session altered.
SQL> select * from dba_roles where role = 'connect'; no rows selected

I must explicitly specify case...

SQL> select * from dba_roles where role = 'CONNECT';

ROLE                           PASSWORD


------------------------------ --------

CONNECT                        NO

nls_language = AMERICAN

Where can I find an explanation of what is going on here?

Thanks.

Bill Wagman
Univ. of California at Davis
IET Campus Data Center
wjwagman_at_ucdavis.edu
(530) 754-6208

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Received on Thu Jan 18 2007 - 15:16:02 CST