Table Character Format
The format of the data in the table.
Supported By
- SQL Drivers (SQL Server, DB2, and ODBC)
Value
- ANSI
- OEM
Associated Attribute
DF_FILE_TABLE_CHARACTER_FORMAT (String)
Remarks
This can be set to ANSI or OEM.
This setting determines in what character format character data is stored in SQL databases. The DataFlex SQL drivers perform character translations based on this setting.
DataFlex 2021 and later support ANSI and Unicode character formats. When TABLE_CHARACTER_FORMAT is set to ANSI, it should be interpreted as ANSI or Unicode. ANSI/Unicode is the default table character format and should normally not be changed.
DataFlex versions before DataFlex 2021 and the associated SQL Drivers (6.3) only supported ANSI or OEM data. ANSI and OEM are single-byte encodings that are limited to 256 characters (no Unicode).
The OEM character format is still supported for backward compatibility with earlier DataFlex versions, but it is strongly recommended to convert OEM tables to ANSI/Unicode, and this is mandatory for applications to support Unicode data.
See Character Formats (OEM or ANSI) for further information about character formats and converting character formats.
Be aware that setting this attribute’s value will only change the way data is presented and new data is stored. Existing data will not be converted from OEM to ANSI or vice versa. You need to run a conversion utility (like the OEM to ANSI Conversion Wizard) to convert existing data. Just changing this setting without conversion may corrupt your data!
For more information on configuration files, see Driver Configuration.