> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://mariadb.com/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://mariadb.com/docs/server/reference/sql-functions/secondary-functions/information-functions/charset.md).

# CHARSET

## Syntax

```bnf
CHARSET(str)
```

## Description

Returns the [character set](/docs/server/reference/data-types/string-data-types/character-sets.md) of the string argument. If `str` is not a string, it is considered as a binary string (so the function returns 'binary'). This applies to `NULL`, too. The return value is a string in the utf8 [character set](/docs/server/reference/data-types/string-data-types/character-sets.md).

## Examples

```sql
SELECT CHARSET('abc');
+----------------+
| CHARSET('abc') |
+----------------+
| latin1         |
+----------------+

SELECT CHARSET(CONVERT('abc' USING utf8));
+------------------------------------+
| CHARSET(CONVERT('abc' USING utf8)) |
+------------------------------------+
| utf8                               |
+------------------------------------+

SELECT CHARSET(USER());
+-----------------+
| CHARSET(USER()) |
+-----------------+
| utf8            |
+-----------------+
```

<sub>*This page is licensed: GPLv2, originally from*</sub> [<sub>*fill\_help\_tables.sql*</sub>](https://github.com/MariaDB/server/blob/main/scripts/fill_help_tables.sql)

{% @marketo/form formId="4316" %}