Re: unicode + oracle query....... (suggestions needed...)
Sandeep, Can you explain exactly what you are doing to get the data from ASP into the Oracle database? Perhaps post the ASP code? Like most scriptoing languages, VBScript and JScript both support UCS-2, and it is really usually the Oracle ODBC or OLE DB driver that has the job of converting the text from UCS-2 to UTF-8. I would wonder if what you are seeing is some type of "double conversion?" So the things that would be interesting to know: 1) The data access method to Oracle 2) Version of the driver being used 3) A sample of the code/script being used michka a new book on internationalization in VB at http://www.i18nWithVB.com/ - Original Message - From: "Sandeep Krishna" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Unicode List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 3:12 AM Subject: Re: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) > i mean all the entries at both Web server machine's registry and Oracle > Database server machine's registry or either one. > in our setup... my machine is the Web Server and the Oracle Server is a > separate machine > please clarify > > regards, > > Sandeep > - Original Message - > From: Kedar Moghe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: Unicode List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 3:21 PM > Subject: RE: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) > > > Sandeep, > > I think you need to change at following three places, > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ORACLE\NLS_LANG > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ORACLE\ALL_HOMES\ID0\NLS_LANG > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ORACLE\HOME0\NLS_LANG > > Best of luck > > Regards, > > Kedar > > -Original Message- > From: Sandeep Krishna [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 5:45 PM > To: Carl W. Brown; Bob Verbrugge; Kedar Moghe > Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) > > > hi... > > i m thoroughly confused. > actually the registry entries for oracle shows 3 entries for NLS_LANG. > and that too at the WEB SERVER end and at the DATABASE SERVER end. > so that makes tooo many combinations... > > can someone indicate which of these NLS_LANG entries have to be set as > "AMERICAN_AMERICA.UTF8" and if some of them doesnt need this...what exactly > should be there > > pls suggest necessary messures.. > > regards, > > Sandeep > > > > > - Original Message - > From: Bob Verbrugge <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: Sandeep Krishna <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 1:30 PM > Subject: Re: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) > > > Sandeep, > > You probably need to change the NLS_LANG Oracle setting in the registry. > Look under > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE for this setting and change the > character set part to UTF8. > > Bob. > > > - Original Message - > From: "Sandeep Krishna" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "Unicode List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 9:16 AM > Subject: Re: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) > > > > hi, > > > > thankx for responding. > > > > but when u mention change in the registry.. > > could u elaborate about where exactly in reg and what changes are required > > > > my registry setting shows NLS = American_English.UTF8. > > > > is this the setting u indicated..or something to so with the charset entry > : > > autodetect and autodetect_all (in classid...Mime>database>charset..) > > > > pls do elaborate > > > > regards, > > > > Sandeep > > > > > > > > - Original Message - > > From: Kedar Moghe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > To: 'Sandeep Krishna' <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 11:20 AM > > Subject: RE: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) > > > > > > Sandeep, > > > > I think you need to set the registry charset to UTF8 where database is > > installed. We were was getting the same problem when we use to send UTF-8 > > strings to oracle database after conversion from Shift-JIS to UTF8. That > > time also the byte sequence of the retrieved string is getting changed and > > some of the bytes are getting replaced with BF. > > > > Regards, > > > > Kedar > > > > -Original Message- > > From: Sandeep Krishna [mailto:[E
RE: unicode + oracle query....... (suggestions needed...)
Only registry entries on the database machine. Not any other entry. Regsrds, Kedar -Original Message- From: Sandeep Krishna [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 6:21 PM To: Kedar Moghe Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) i mean all the entries at both Web server machine's registry and Oracle Database server machine's registry or either one. in our setup... my machine is the Web Server and the Oracle Server is a separate machine please clarify regards, Sandeep - Original Message - From: Kedar Moghe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Unicode List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 3:21 PM Subject: RE: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) Sandeep, I think you need to change at following three places, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ORACLE\NLS_LANG HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ORACLE\ALL_HOMES\ID0\NLS_LANG HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ORACLE\HOME0\NLS_LANG Best of luck Regards, Kedar -Original Message- From: Sandeep Krishna [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 5:45 PM To: Carl W. Brown; Bob Verbrugge; Kedar Moghe Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) hi... i m thoroughly confused. actually the registry entries for oracle shows 3 entries for NLS_LANG. and that too at the WEB SERVER end and at the DATABASE SERVER end. so that makes tooo many combinations... can someone indicate which of these NLS_LANG entries have to be set as "AMERICAN_AMERICA.UTF8" and if some of them doesnt need this...what exactly should be there pls suggest necessary messures.. regards, Sandeep - Original Message - From: Bob Verbrugge <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Sandeep Krishna <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 1:30 PM Subject: Re: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) Sandeep, You probably need to change the NLS_LANG Oracle setting in the registry. Look under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE for this setting and change the character set part to UTF8. Bob. - Original Message - From: "Sandeep Krishna" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Unicode List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 9:16 AM Subject: Re: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) > hi, > > thankx for responding. > > but when u mention change in the registry.. > could u elaborate about where exactly in reg and what changes are required > > my registry setting shows NLS = American_English.UTF8. > > is this the setting u indicated..or something to so with the charset entry : > autodetect and autodetect_all (in classid...Mime>database>charset..) > > pls do elaborate > > regards, > > Sandeep > > > > - Original Message ----- > From: Kedar Moghe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: 'Sandeep Krishna' <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 11:20 AM > Subject: RE: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) > > > Sandeep, > > I think you need to set the registry charset to UTF8 where database is > installed. We were was getting the same problem when we use to send UTF-8 > strings to oracle database after conversion from Shift-JIS to UTF8. That > time also the byte sequence of the retrieved string is getting changed and > some of the bytes are getting replaced with BF. > > Regards, > > Kedar > > -Original Message- > From: Sandeep Krishna [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 11:36 AM > To: Unicode List > Subject: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) > > > hi > > actually i have been trying to use ASPs (UTF-8 encoding..) to write unicode > cahracters to an Oracle DB table (varchar2 field)... and then retrieve them > back.. > (i used UTF-8 encoding for both writing to the database and also for > retriving and displaying..) > > there were some amazing observations... > > * each unicode character was taking 7 bytes in the database. (instead of > expected 2 or 3...) > * some unicode characters(or rather code points.) like' F95F' when encoded > in UTF-8 was being encoded as EF A5 BF, when it should have been encoded as > EF A5 9F.. in fact many unicode charcters whose encoded form had to had a > byte in the range (80..9F) were being somehow changed to BF ... thus > resulting in incorrect retrieval > > I was unable to find the reasons for these strange occurrences > Pls suggest what could be the causes for these.. > > regards, > > Sandeep. > > > > > *** > SANDEEP KRISHNA > Member Technical Staff (Priceline.com) > H.C.L. Technologies Limited > A-1 C&D, Sector -16, NOIDA, UP, India. > Ph: 91-11-91-4516321 (extn. 1062) > Fax: 91-11-91-4510713, 4510226 > E-Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > >
Re: unicode + oracle query....... (suggestions needed...)
i mean all the entries at both Web server machine's registry and Oracle Database server machine's registry or either one. in our setup... my machine is the Web Server and the Oracle Server is a separate machine please clarify regards, Sandeep - Original Message - From: Kedar Moghe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Unicode List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 3:21 PM Subject: RE: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) Sandeep, I think you need to change at following three places, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ORACLE\NLS_LANG HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ORACLE\ALL_HOMES\ID0\NLS_LANG HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ORACLE\HOME0\NLS_LANG Best of luck Regards, Kedar -Original Message- From: Sandeep Krishna [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 5:45 PM To: Carl W. Brown; Bob Verbrugge; Kedar Moghe Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) hi... i m thoroughly confused. actually the registry entries for oracle shows 3 entries for NLS_LANG. and that too at the WEB SERVER end and at the DATABASE SERVER end. so that makes tooo many combinations... can someone indicate which of these NLS_LANG entries have to be set as "AMERICAN_AMERICA.UTF8" and if some of them doesnt need this...what exactly should be there pls suggest necessary messures.. regards, Sandeep - Original Message - From: Bob Verbrugge <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Sandeep Krishna <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 1:30 PM Subject: Re: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) Sandeep, You probably need to change the NLS_LANG Oracle setting in the registry. Look under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE for this setting and change the character set part to UTF8. Bob. - Original Message - From: "Sandeep Krishna" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Unicode List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 9:16 AM Subject: Re: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) > hi, > > thankx for responding. > > but when u mention change in the registry.. > could u elaborate about where exactly in reg and what changes are required > > my registry setting shows NLS = American_English.UTF8. > > is this the setting u indicated..or something to so with the charset entry : > autodetect and autodetect_all (in classid...Mime>database>charset..) > > pls do elaborate > > regards, > > Sandeep > > > > - Original Message ----- > From: Kedar Moghe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: 'Sandeep Krishna' <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 11:20 AM > Subject: RE: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) > > > Sandeep, > > I think you need to set the registry charset to UTF8 where database is > installed. We were was getting the same problem when we use to send UTF-8 > strings to oracle database after conversion from Shift-JIS to UTF8. That > time also the byte sequence of the retrieved string is getting changed and > some of the bytes are getting replaced with BF. > > Regards, > > Kedar > > -Original Message- > From: Sandeep Krishna [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 11:36 AM > To: Unicode List > Subject: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) > > > hi > > actually i have been trying to use ASPs (UTF-8 encoding..) to write unicode > cahracters to an Oracle DB table (varchar2 field)... and then retrieve them > back.. > (i used UTF-8 encoding for both writing to the database and also for > retriving and displaying..) > > there were some amazing observations... > > * each unicode character was taking 7 bytes in the database. (instead of > expected 2 or 3...) > * some unicode characters(or rather code points.) like' F95F' when encoded > in UTF-8 was being encoded as EF A5 BF, when it should have been encoded as > EF A5 9F.. in fact many unicode charcters whose encoded form had to had a > byte in the range (80..9F) were being somehow changed to BF ... thus > resulting in incorrect retrieval > > I was unable to find the reasons for these strange occurrences > Pls suggest what could be the causes for these.. > > regards, > > Sandeep. > > > > > *** > SANDEEP KRISHNA > Member Technical Staff (Priceline.com) > H.C.L. Technologies Limited > A-1 C&D, Sector -16, NOIDA, UP, India. > Ph: 91-11-91-4516321 (extn. 1062) > Fax: 91-11-91-4510713, 4510226 > E-Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > >
RE: unicode + oracle query....... (suggestions needed...)
Sandeep, I think you need to change at following three places, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ORACLE\NLS_LANG HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ORACLE\ALL_HOMES\ID0\NLS_LANG HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ORACLE\HOME0\NLS_LANG Best of luck Regards, Kedar -Original Message- From: Sandeep Krishna [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 5:45 PM To: Carl W. Brown; Bob Verbrugge; Kedar Moghe Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) hi... i m thoroughly confused. actually the registry entries for oracle shows 3 entries for NLS_LANG. and that too at the WEB SERVER end and at the DATABASE SERVER end. so that makes tooo many combinations... can someone indicate which of these NLS_LANG entries have to be set as "AMERICAN_AMERICA.UTF8" and if some of them doesnt need this...what exactly should be there pls suggest necessary messures.. regards, Sandeep - Original Message - From: Bob Verbrugge <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Sandeep Krishna <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 1:30 PM Subject: Re: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) Sandeep, You probably need to change the NLS_LANG Oracle setting in the registry. Look under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE for this setting and change the character set part to UTF8. Bob. - Original Message - From: "Sandeep Krishna" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Unicode List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 9:16 AM Subject: Re: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) > hi, > > thankx for responding. > > but when u mention change in the registry.. > could u elaborate about where exactly in reg and what changes are required > > my registry setting shows NLS = American_English.UTF8. > > is this the setting u indicated..or something to so with the charset entry : > autodetect and autodetect_all (in classid...Mime>database>charset..) > > pls do elaborate > > regards, > > Sandeep > > > > - Original Message - > From: Kedar Moghe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: 'Sandeep Krishna' <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 11:20 AM > Subject: RE: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) > > > Sandeep, > > I think you need to set the registry charset to UTF8 where database is > installed. We were was getting the same problem when we use to send UTF-8 > strings to oracle database after conversion from Shift-JIS to UTF8. That > time also the byte sequence of the retrieved string is getting changed and > some of the bytes are getting replaced with BF. > > Regards, > > Kedar > > -Original Message- > From: Sandeep Krishna [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 11:36 AM > To: Unicode List > Subject: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) > > > hi > > actually i have been trying to use ASPs (UTF-8 encoding..) to write unicode > cahracters to an Oracle DB table (varchar2 field)... and then retrieve them > back.. > (i used UTF-8 encoding for both writing to the database and also for > retriving and displaying..) > > there were some amazing observations... > > * each unicode character was taking 7 bytes in the database. (instead of > expected 2 or 3...) > * some unicode characters(or rather code points.) like' F95F' when encoded > in UTF-8 was being encoded as EF A5 BF, when it should have been encoded as > EF A5 9F.. in fact many unicode charcters whose encoded form had to had a > byte in the range (80..9F) were being somehow changed to BF ... thus > resulting in incorrect retrieval > > I was unable to find the reasons for these strange occurrences > Pls suggest what could be the causes for these.. > > regards, > > Sandeep. > > > > > *** > SANDEEP KRISHNA > Member Technical Staff (Priceline.com) > H.C.L. Technologies Limited > A-1 C&D, Sector -16, NOIDA, UP, India. > Ph: 91-11-91-4516321 (extn. 1062) > Fax: 91-11-91-4510713, 4510226 > E-Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > >
Re: unicode + oracle query....... (suggestions needed...)
hi... i m thoroughly confused. actually the registry entries for oracle shows 3 entries for NLS_LANG. and that too at the WEB SERVER end and at the DATABASE SERVER end. so that makes tooo many combinations... can someone indicate which of these NLS_LANG entries have to be set as "AMERICAN_AMERICA.UTF8" and if some of them doesnt need this...what exactly should be there pls suggest necessary messures.. regards, Sandeep - Original Message - From: Bob Verbrugge <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Sandeep Krishna <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 1:30 PM Subject: Re: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) Sandeep, You probably need to change the NLS_LANG Oracle setting in the registry. Look under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE for this setting and change the character set part to UTF8. Bob. - Original Message - From: "Sandeep Krishna" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Unicode List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 9:16 AM Subject: Re: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) > hi, > > thankx for responding. > > but when u mention change in the registry.. > could u elaborate about where exactly in reg and what changes are required > > my registry setting shows NLS = American_English.UTF8. > > is this the setting u indicated..or something to so with the charset entry : > autodetect and autodetect_all (in classid...Mime>database>charset..) > > pls do elaborate > > regards, > > Sandeep > > > > - Original Message - > From: Kedar Moghe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: 'Sandeep Krishna' <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 11:20 AM > Subject: RE: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) > > > Sandeep, > > I think you need to set the registry charset to UTF8 where database is > installed. We were was getting the same problem when we use to send UTF-8 > strings to oracle database after conversion from Shift-JIS to UTF8. That > time also the byte sequence of the retrieved string is getting changed and > some of the bytes are getting replaced with BF. > > Regards, > > Kedar > > -Original Message- > From: Sandeep Krishna [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 11:36 AM > To: Unicode List > Subject: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) > > > hi > > actually i have been trying to use ASPs (UTF-8 encoding..) to write unicode > cahracters to an Oracle DB table (varchar2 field)... and then retrieve them > back.. > (i used UTF-8 encoding for both writing to the database and also for > retriving and displaying..) > > there were some amazing observations... > > * each unicode character was taking 7 bytes in the database. (instead of > expected 2 or 3...) > * some unicode characters(or rather code points.) like' F95F' when encoded > in UTF-8 was being encoded as EF A5 BF, when it should have been encoded as > EF A5 9F.. in fact many unicode charcters whose encoded form had to had a > byte in the range (80..9F) were being somehow changed to BF ... thus > resulting in incorrect retrieval > > I was unable to find the reasons for these strange occurrences > Pls suggest what could be the causes for these.. > > regards, > > Sandeep. > > > > > *** > SANDEEP KRISHNA > Member Technical Staff (Priceline.com) > H.C.L. Technologies Limited > A-1 C&D, Sector -16, NOIDA, UP, India. > Ph: 91-11-91-4516321 (extn. 1062) > Fax: 91-11-91-4510713, 4510226 > E-Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > >
Re: unicode + oracle query....... (suggestions needed...)
Sandeep Krishna schrieb: > * some unicode characters(or rather code points.) like' F95F' when encoded > in UTF-8 was being encoded as EF A5 BF, when it should have been encoded as > EF A5 9F.. in fact many unicode charcters whose encoded form had to had a > byte in the range (80..9F) were being somehow changed to BF ... thus > resulting in incorrect retrieval Oops, it seems that this particular version of Oracle is only 7,5bit clean ... Hope they fix it soon, otherwise you need UTF-7d5 (inofficial) as a workaround. --J"org Knappen
RE: unicode + oracle query....... (suggestions needed...)
Sandeep, what version of Oracle? What API? Carl -Original Message-From: Sandeep Krishna [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2000 8:36 PMTo: Unicode ListSubject: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) hi actually i have been trying to use ASPs (UTF-8 encoding..) to write unicode cahracters to an Oracle DB table (varchar2 field)... and then retrieve them back.. (i used UTF-8 encoding for both writing to the database and also for retriving and displaying..) there were some amazing observations... * each unicode character was taking 7 bytes in the database. (instead of expected 2 or 3...) * some unicode characters(or rather code points.) like' F95F' when encoded in UTF-8 was being encoded as EF A5 BF, when it should have been encoded as EF A5 9F.. in fact many unicode charcters whose encoded form had to had a byte in the range (80..9F) were being somehow changed to BF ... thus resulting in incorrect retrieval I was unable to find the reasons for these strange occurrences Pls suggest what could be the causes for these.. regards, Sandeep. *** SANDEEP KRISHNAMember Technical Staff (Priceline.com)H.C.L. Technologies LimitedA-1 C&D, Sector -16, NOIDA, UP, India.Ph: 91-11-91-4516321 (extn. 1062)Fax: 91-11-91-4510713, 4510226E-Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: unicode + oracle query....... (suggestions needed...)
hi, thankx for responding. but when u mention change in the registry.. could u elaborate about where exactly in reg and what changes are required my registry setting shows NLS = American_English.UTF8. is this the setting u indicated..or something to so with the charset entry : autodetect and autodetect_all (in classid...Mime>database>charset..) pls do elaborate regards, Sandeep - Original Message - From: Kedar Moghe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: 'Sandeep Krishna' <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 11:20 AM Subject: RE: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) Sandeep, I think you need to set the registry charset to UTF8 where database is installed. We were was getting the same problem when we use to send UTF-8 strings to oracle database after conversion from Shift-JIS to UTF8. That time also the byte sequence of the retrieved string is getting changed and some of the bytes are getting replaced with BF. Regards, Kedar -Original Message- From: Sandeep Krishna [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 11:36 AM To: Unicode List Subject: unicode + oracle query... (suggestions needed...) hi actually i have been trying to use ASPs (UTF-8 encoding..) to write unicode cahracters to an Oracle DB table (varchar2 field)... and then retrieve them back.. (i used UTF-8 encoding for both writing to the database and also for retriving and displaying..) there were some amazing observations... * each unicode character was taking 7 bytes in the database. (instead of expected 2 or 3...) * some unicode characters(or rather code points.) like' F95F' when encoded in UTF-8 was being encoded as EF A5 BF, when it should have been encoded as EF A5 9F.. in fact many unicode charcters whose encoded form had to had a byte in the range (80..9F) were being somehow changed to BF ... thus resulting in incorrect retrieval I was unable to find the reasons for these strange occurrences Pls suggest what could be the causes for these.. regards, Sandeep. *** SANDEEP KRISHNA Member Technical Staff (Priceline.com) H.C.L. Technologies Limited A-1 C&D, Sector -16, NOIDA, UP, India. Ph: 91-11-91-4516321 (extn. 1062) Fax: 91-11-91-4510713, 4510226 E-Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>