Configure the character set and collation for the current connection. This ensures the server correctly interprets data sent by the client application.
Sets the character_set_client, character_set_connection, character_set_results and, implicitly, the collation_connection session system variables to the specified character set and collation.
This determines which the client will use to send statements to the server, and the server will use for sending results back to the client.
ucs2, utf16, utf16le and utf32 are not valid character sets for SET NAMES, as they cannot be used as client character sets.
The collation clause is optional. If not defined (or if DEFAULT is specified), the will be used.
Quotes are optional for the character set or collation clauses.
utf8mb4 is the default for the affected variables:
The utf8 (and related collations) is an alias for utf8mb3 , rather than the other way around. added the variable, so the SELECT query is more specific in this example:
The utf8 (and related collation) is the default for the given variables:
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SET NAMES {'charset_name'
[COLLATE 'collation_name'] | DEFAULT}SET NAMES DEFAULT;
SELECT VARIABLE_NAME, SESSION_VALUE
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.SYSTEM_VARIABLES WHERE
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'character_set_con%' OR
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'character_set_cl%' OR
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'character_set_re%' OR
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'collation_c%';
+--------------------------+-----------------------+
| VARIABLE_NAME | SESSION_VALUE |
+--------------------------+-----------------------+
| CHARACTER_SET_RESULTS | utf8mb4 |
| CHARACTER_SET_CONNECTION | utf8mb4 |
| CHARACTER_SET_CLIENT | utf8mb4 |
| COLLATION_CONNECTION | utf8mb4_uca1400_ai_ci |
+--------------------------+-----------------------+SELECT VARIABLE_NAME, SESSION_VALUE
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.SYSTEM_VARIABLES WHERE
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'character_set_con%' OR
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'character_set_cl%' OR
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'character_set_re%' OR
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'collation_c%';
+--------------------------+--------------------+
| VARIABLE_NAME | SESSION_VALUE |
+--------------------------+--------------------+
| CHARACTER_SET_RESULTS | utf8mb3 |
| CHARACTER_SET_CONNECTION | utf8mb3 |
| CHARACTER_SET_CLIENT | utf8mb3 |
| COLLATION_CONNECTION | utf8mb3_general_ci |
+--------------------------+--------------------+
SET NAMES utf8mb4;
SELECT VARIABLE_NAME, SESSION_VALUE
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.SYSTEM_VARIABLES WHERE
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'character_set_con%' OR
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'character_set_cl%' OR
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'character_set_re%' OR
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'collation_c%';
+--------------------------+--------------------+
| VARIABLE_NAME | SESSION_VALUE |
+--------------------------+--------------------+
| CHARACTER_SET_RESULTS | utf8mb4 |
| CHARACTER_SET_CONNECTION | utf8mb4 |
| CHARACTER_SET_CLIENT | utf8mb4 |
| COLLATION_CONNECTION | utf8mb4_general_ci |
+--------------------------+--------------------+SELECT VARIABLE_NAME, SESSION_VALUE
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.SYSTEM_VARIABLES WHERE
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'character_set_c%' OR
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'character_set_re%' OR
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'collation_c%';
+--------------------------+-----------------+
| VARIABLE_NAME | SESSION_VALUE |
+--------------------------+-----------------+
| CHARACTER_SET_RESULTS | utf8 |
| CHARACTER_SET_CONNECTION | utf8 |
| CHARACTER_SET_CLIENT | utf8 |
| COLLATION_CONNECTION | utf8_general_ci |
+--------------------------+-----------------+
SET NAMES big5;
SELECT VARIABLE_NAME, SESSION_VALUE
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.SYSTEM_VARIABLES WHERE
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'character_set_c%' OR
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'character_set_re%' OR
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'collation_c%';
+--------------------------+-----------------+
| VARIABLE_NAME | SESSION_VALUE |
+--------------------------+-----------------+
| CHARACTER_SET_RESULTS | big5 |
| CHARACTER_SET_CONNECTION | big5 |
| CHARACTER_SET_CLIENT | big5 |
| COLLATION_CONNECTION | big5_chinese_ci |
+--------------------------+-----------------+
SET NAMES 'latin1' COLLATE 'latin1_bin';
SELECT VARIABLE_NAME, SESSION_VALUE
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.SYSTEM_VARIABLES WHERE
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'character_set_c%' OR
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'character_set_re%' OR
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'collation_c%';
+--------------------------+---------------+
| VARIABLE_NAME | SESSION_VALUE |
+--------------------------+---------------+
| CHARACTER_SET_RESULTS | latin1 |
| CHARACTER_SET_CONNECTION | latin1 |
| CHARACTER_SET_CLIENT | latin1 |
| COLLATION_CONNECTION | latin1_bin |
+--------------------------+---------------+
SET NAMES DEFAULT;
SELECT VARIABLE_NAME, SESSION_VALUE
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.SYSTEM_VARIABLES WHERE
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'character_set_c%' OR
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'character_set_re%' OR
VARIABLE_NAME LIKE 'collation_c%';
+--------------------------+-------------------+
| VARIABLE_NAME | SESSION_VALUE |
+--------------------------+-------------------+
| CHARACTER_SET_RESULTS | latin1 |
| CHARACTER_SET_CONNECTION | latin1 |
| CHARACTER_SET_CLIENT | latin1 |
| COLLATION_CONNECTION | latin1_swedish_ci |
+--------------------------+-------------------+