Multiple SQL Server databases with the exact same schema somehow ended up having different collations. How do I change them all to be the same with a scripted approach without any manual clicking around?
declare #rename_models table (
wrong nvarchar(256) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS, -- tried overriding collation, but this conflicts with some of the databases
correct nvarchar(256) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS
);
The query I run against a models table:
select code as to_be_deleted from models where code in (select wrong from #rename_models);
Throws this for some databases:
MESSAGE
"Msg 468, Level 16, State 9, Line 140
Cannot resolve the collation conflict between ""SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS"" and ""Latin1_General_CI_AS"" in the equal to operation.
You can use the COLLATE keyword in your Select Query.
Casting the collation of an expression.
You can use the COLLATE clause to apply a character expression to a
certain collation. Character literals and variables are assigned the
default collation of the current database. Column references are
assigned the definition collation of the column.
References :
COLLATE
Related
I am trying to execute the following query on two different databases with difent collations
select * from sourcedb.DBO.PKtable
except
select * from destinationdb.DBO.PKtable
It is clear that both the tables have the same columns and the primary key
But when executing, encountered the following exception
Msg 468, Level 16, State 9, Line 17
Cannot resolve the collation conflict between "SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS" and "Latin1_General_CS_AS" in the EXCEPT operation.
I cannot use COLLATE keyword because.. I will be using the above query at runtime and the table name and columns vary, hence cannot predict the columns of the table.
I have tried to change the collation of the destination database to same as the source database using the following command
ALTER DATABASE destinationDB SET SINGLE_USER WITH ROLLBACK IMMEDIATE
ALTER DATABASE destinationDB COLLATE <<sourceCollation>>;
ALTER DATABASE destinationDB SET MULTI_USER
The collation is set to the database and I can see it from the sys tables.
Even then when I execute the query mentioned above, getting the same error
EDIT1: Basically I'm trying to get the records which have the same primary key but difference in the row.
Another possible workaround (apart from dynamic sql) might be to use a temporary table. (This may suit if this is a one off type of operation).
-- create empty #PKTable with required columns and collation.
select * INTO #PKTable from sourcedb.DBO.PKtable where 1=0
-- fill table with data
insert #PKTable select * from destinationdb.DBO.PKtable
-- compare
select * from sourcedb.DBO.PKtable
except
select * from #PKTable
-- remove temp table
drop table #PKTable
Alter Collation
I need to change the collation of one of our databases on a particular server from Latin1_General_CI_AS to SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AI so that it matches the rest of our databases.
The Problem
However, when I attempt to do this, I get the following error:
ALTER DATABASE failed. The default collation of database 'XxxxxXxxxxx' cannot be set to SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AI. (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 5075)
My Research
My googling on the topic has revealed a number of articles which indicate that I need to export all the data, drop the database, re-create it with the correct collation, then re-import the data.
For example: Problem with database collation change (SQL Server 2008)
Obviously this is a significant task, especially since primary-foreign key relationships must be preserved, and our database is quite large (over ten million data rows).
My Question
Is there a way to change the collation of an existing SQL Server 2012 database which does not require exporting and re-importing all the data?
Alternatively, is there some tool or script(s) which can automate this process in a reliable manner?
The following works for me on SQL Server 2012:
ALTER DATABASE CURRENT COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AI;
The accepted answer in the linked question is not entirely correct, at least not for SQL Server 2012. It says:
Ahh, this is one of the worst problems in SQL Server: you cannot change the collation once an object is created (this is true both for tables and databases...).
But I was just able to change the default collation and I have tables that are populated. The MSDN page for ALTER DATABASE states in the "Remarks" section, under "Changing the Database Collation":
Before you apply a different collation to a database, make sure that the following conditions are in place:
You are the only one currently using the database.
No schema-bound object depends on the collation of the database.
If the following objects, which depend on the database collation, exist in the database, the ALTER DATABASE database_name COLLATE statement will fail. SQL Server will return an error message for each object blocking the ALTER action:
User-defined functions and views created with SCHEMABINDING.
Computed columns.
CHECK constraints.
Table-valued functions that return tables with character columns with collations inherited from the default database collation.
So, I would suggest making sure that the database is in Single-User mode, and that if you have any of those four items, that you:
drop them
change the collation
and then re-add them
BUT, at that point all that has been changed is the Database's default Collation. The Collation of any existing columns in user tables (i.e. non-system tables) will still have the original Collation. If you want existing string columns -- CHAR, VARCHAR, NCHAR, NVARCHAR, and the deprecated TEXT and NTEXT -- to take on the new Collation, you need to change each of those columns individually. And, if there are any indexes defined on those columns, then those indexes will need to be dropped first (disabling is not enough) and created again after the ALTER COLUMN (other dependencies that would prevent the ALTER COLUMN would have already been dropped in order to get the ALTER DATABASE to work). The example below illustrates this behavior:
Test Setup
USE [tempdb];
SET NOCOUNT ON;
CREATE TABLE dbo.ChangeCollationParent
(
[ChangeCollationParentID] INT NOT NULL IDENTITY(1, 1)
CONSTRAINT [PK_ChangeCollationParent] PRIMARY KEY,
ExtendedASCIIString VARCHAR(50) COLLATE Latin1_General_CI_AS NULL,
UnicodeString NVARCHAR(50) COLLATE Latin1_General_CI_AS NULL
);
CREATE TABLE dbo.ChangeCollationChild
(
[ChangeCollationChildID] INT NOT NULL IDENTITY(1, 1)
CONSTRAINT [PK_ChangeCollationChild] PRIMARY KEY,
[ChangeCollationParentID] INT NULL
CONSTRAINT [FK_ChangeCollationChild_ChangeCollationParent] FOREIGN KEY
REFERENCES dbo.ChangeCollationParent([ChangeCollationParentID]),
ExtendedASCIIString VARCHAR(50) COLLATE Latin1_General_CI_AS NULL,
UnicodeString NVARCHAR(50) COLLATE Latin1_General_CI_AS NULL
);
INSERT INTO dbo.ChangeCollationParent ([ExtendedASCIIString], [UnicodeString])
VALUES ('test1' + CHAR(200), N'test1' + NCHAR(200));
INSERT INTO dbo.ChangeCollationParent ([ExtendedASCIIString], [UnicodeString])
VALUES ('test2' + CHAR(170), N'test2' + NCHAR(170));
INSERT INTO dbo.ChangeCollationChild
([ChangeCollationParentID], [ExtendedASCIIString], [UnicodeString])
VALUES (1, 'testA ' + CHAR(200), N'testA ' + NCHAR(200));
INSERT INTO dbo.ChangeCollationChild
([ChangeCollationParentID], [ExtendedASCIIString], [UnicodeString])
VALUES (1, 'testB ' + CHAR(170), N'testB ' + NCHAR(170));
SELECT * FROM dbo.ChangeCollationParent;
SELECT * FROM dbo.ChangeCollationChild;
Test 1: Change column Collation with no dependencies
ALTER TABLE dbo.ChangeCollationParent
ALTER COLUMN [ExtendedASCIIString] VARCHAR(50) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AI NULL;
ALTER TABLE dbo.ChangeCollationParent
ALTER COLUMN [UnicodeString] NVARCHAR(50) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AI NULL;
ALTER TABLE dbo.ChangeCollationChild
ALTER COLUMN [ExtendedASCIIString] VARCHAR(50) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AI NULL;
ALTER TABLE dbo.ChangeCollationChild
ALTER COLUMN [UnicodeString] NVARCHAR(50) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AI NULL;
SELECT * FROM dbo.ChangeCollationParent;
SELECT * FROM dbo.ChangeCollationChild;
The ALTER COLUMN statements above complete successfully.
Test 2: Change column Collation with dependencies
-- First, create an index:
CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX [IX_ChangeCollationParent_ExtendedASCIIString]
ON dbo.ChangeCollationParent ([ExtendedASCIIString] ASC);
-- Next, change the Collation back to the original setting:
ALTER TABLE dbo.ChangeCollationParent
ALTER COLUMN [ExtendedASCIIString] VARCHAR(50) COLLATE Latin1_General_CI_AS NULL;
This time, the ALTER COLUMN statement received the following error:
Msg 5074, Level 16, State 1, Line 60
The index 'IX_ChangeCollationParent_ExtendedASCIIString' is dependent on column 'ExtendedASCIIString'.
Msg 4922, Level 16, State 9, Line 60
ALTER TABLE ALTER COLUMN ExtendedASCIIString failed because one or more objects access this column.
ALSO, please be aware that the Collation of some string columns in database-scoped system catalog views (e.g. sys.objects, sys.columns, sys.indexes, etc) will change to the new Collation. If your code has JOINs to any of these string columns (i.e. name), then you might start getting Collation mismatch errors until you change the Collation on the joining columns in your user tables.
UPDATE:
If changing the Collation for the entire Instance is the desire, or an option, then there is an easier method that bypasses all of these restrictions. It is undocumented and hence unsupported (so if it doesn't work, Microsoft isn't going to help). However, it changes the Collation at all levels: Instance, all Database's, and all string columns in all User Tables. It does this, and avoids all of the typical restrictions, by simply updating the meta-data of the tables, etc to have the new Collation. It then drops and recreates all indexes that have string columns. There are also a few nuances to this method that might have impact, but are fixable. This method is the -q command-line switch of sqlservr.exe. I have documented all of the behaviors, including listing all of the potentially affected areas by doing such a wide-sweeping Collation change, in the following post:
Changing the Collation of the Instance, the Databases, and All Columns in All User Databases: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
For anyone else stumbling to this problem, the solution is to set DB in single_user mode before change the collation and then set again the multi_user mode after it.
Make sure to not close the connection before setting the multi_user mode!
/* block all other users from connecting to the db */
ALTER DATABASE YorDbName SET SINGLE_USER WITH ROLLBACK IMMEDIATE;
/* modify your db collate */
ALTER DATABASE CURRENT COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AI;
/* allow again all other users to connect to the db */
ALTER DATABASE YorDbName SET MULTI_USER;
I'm querying a SQL Server database that uses the SQL_Latin1_General_CP850_BIN2 collation. One of the table rows has a varchar with a value that includes the +/- character (decimal code 177 in the Windows-1252 codepage).
When I query the table directly in SQL Server Management Studio, I get a gibberish character instead of the +/- character in this row. When I use this table as the source in an SSIS package, the destination table (which uses the typical SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS collation), ends up with the correct +/- character.
I now have to build a mechanism that directly queries the source table without SSIS. How do I do this in a way that I get the correct character instead of gibberish? My guess would be that I would need to convert/cast the column to the SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS collation but that isn't working as I keep getting a gibberish character.
I've tried the following with no luck:
select
columnName collate SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS
from tableName
select
cast (columnName as varchar(100)) collate SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS
from tableName
select
convert (varchar, columnName) collate SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS
from tableName
What am I doing wrong?
Character set conversion is done implicitly on the database connection level. You can force automatic conversion off in the ODBC or ADODB connection string with the parameter "Auto Translate=False". This is NOT recommended.
See: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms130822.aspx
There has been a codepage incompatibility in SQL Server 2005 when Database and Client codepage did not match.
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/KbView/904803
SQL-Management Console 2008 and upwards is a UNICODE application. All values entered or requested are interpreted as such on the application level. Conversation to and from the column collation is done implicitly. You can verify this with:
SELECT CAST(N'±' as varbinary(10)) AS Result
This will return 0xB100 which is the Unicode character U+00B1 (as entered in the Management Console window). You cannot turn off "Auto Translate" for Management Studio.
If you specify a different collation in the select, you eventually end up in a double conversion (with possible data loss) as long as "Auto Translate" is still active. The original character is first transformed to the new collation during the select, which in turn gets "Auto Translated" to the "proper" application codepage. That's why your various COLLATION tests still show all the same result.
You can verify that specifying the collation DOES have an effect in the select, if you cast the result as VARBINARY instead of VARCHAR so the SQL Server transformation is not invalidated by the client before it is presented:
SELECT cast(columnName COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP850_BIN2 as varbinary(10)) from tableName
SELECT cast(columnName COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS as varbinary(10)) from tableName
This will get you 0xF1 or 0xB1 respectively if columnName contains just the character '±'
You still might get the correct result and yet a wrong character, if the font you are using does not provide the proper glyph.
Please double check the actual internal representation of your character by casting the query to VARBINARY on a proper sample and verify whether this code indeed corresponds to the defined database collation SQL_Latin1_General_CP850_BIN2
SELECT CAST(columnName as varbinary(10)) from tableName
Differences in application collation and database collation might go unnoticed as long as the conversion is always done the same way in and out. Troubles emerge as soon as you add a client with a different collation. Then you might find that the internal conversion is unable to match the characters correctly.
All that said, you should keep in mind that Management Studio usually is not the final reference when interpreting result sets. Even if it looks gibberish in MS, it still might be the correct output. The question is whether the records show up correctly in your applications.
Must be used convert, not cast:
SELECT
CONVERT(varchar(50), N'æøåáäĺćçčéđńőöřůýţžš')
COLLATE Cyrillic_General_CI_AI
(http://blog.sqlpositive.com/2010/03/using-convert-with-collate-to-strip-accents-from-unicode-strings/)
We may need more information. Here is what I did to reproduce on SQL Server 2008:
CREATE DATABASE [Test] ON PRIMARY
(
NAME = N'Test'
, FILENAME = N'...Test.mdf'
, SIZE = 3072KB
, FILEGROWTH = 1024KB
)
LOG ON
(
NAME = N'Test_log'
, FILENAME = N'...Test_log.ldf'
, SIZE = 1024KB
, FILEGROWTH = 10%
)
COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP850_BIN2
GO
SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON
GO
SET ANSI_PADDING ON
GO
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[MyTable]
(
[SomeCol] [varchar](50) NULL
) ON [PRIMARY]
GO
Insert MyTable( SomeCol )
Select '±' Collate SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS
GO
Select SomeCol, SomeCol Collate SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS
From MyTable
Results show the original character. Declaring collation in the query should return the proper character from SQL Server's perspective however it may be the case that the presentation layer is then converting to something yet different like UTF-8.
try:
SELECT CAST( CAST([field] AS VARBINARY) AS varchar)
I think
SELECT CAST( CAST([field] AS VARBINARY(120)) AS varchar(120))
for your update
My application's database mydb has different collation than tempdb. I get a lot of exceptions comparing string values between tempdb temporary tables and mydb persistent tables.
It was decided to create mydb with same collation as tempdb.
The collation must be set automatically using script. I've tried this:
DECLARE #SQLCollation sql_variant
SELECT #SQLCollation = DATABASEPROPERTYEX('tempdb', 'Collation')
ALTER DATABASE mydb COLLATE #SQLCollation -- doesn't work
ALTER DATABASE mydb COLLATE Latin1_General_CI_AS -- works, but doesn't suit me because I have to type in collation myself in this SQL
So how do I set the same collation for mydb as for tempdb?
You can't just change DB collation with ALTER DATABASE. This only changes system databases (object names etc). (Dalex's answer)
You have to follow the steps detailed in the answers to Changing SQL Server Database sorting.
Another option to use the COLLATE Database_Default to coerce collation without knowing what it is. See SQL Server error "Implicit conversion of because the collation of the value is unresolved due to a collation conflict." and SQL Server - is there a way to mass resolve collation conflicts
Changing collation of the db will not change the collation of already existing tables in the db.
Another option would be to specify the collation to use when you create your temp table.
create table #TempTable
(
Name varchar(10) collate database_default
)
Your comparisons will then work just fine asuming that all your tables character fields have the same collation as the database.
DECLARE #SQLCollation NVARCHAR(1000)
SELECT #SQLCollation = 'ALTER DATABASE MyDb COLLATE '+CAST(DATABASEPROPERTYEX('Tempdb', 'Collation') as NVARCHAR(1000))
exec (#sqlcollation)
I just installed SQL Server 2008 and imported AdventureWorksDatabase (for SQL 2005, as for 2008 that didn't worked).
It is now enforcing case sensitivity when I searched for any tables, views etc
Hence Person.contact table when written throws an error of Invalid column name, but when Person.Contact is written it shows all rows.
Plus the intellisense too doesn't work great.
Case sensitivity is controlled by the collation the database uses - check this by querying the system catalog views:
select name, collation_name
from sys.databases
A collation name will be something like: Latin1_General_CI_AS
The _CI_ part is telling me here that it's a case insensitive collation. If you see a _CS_ then it's a case sensitive collation.
You can change a database's default collation using:
ALTER DATABASE AdventureWorks COLLATE .......
and pick any valid collation here - use one with a _CI_ to get a case-insensitive collation.
Trouble is: even if you change the collation on the database level, certain tables might still have individual column that had a specific collation defined when the table was created. You could also change all of these, but that's going to be a bigger undertaking. See this article for more info and a script to check and possibly change individual columns in your tables.
The reason the intellisense might not be working properly is that the case sensitivity of database objects per se is controlled by the server collation - which can again be different from any database default.
To find out what the server's collation is, use:
SELECT SERVERPROPERTY('Collation')
Changing the server's system collation is quite a messy process and requires you to use the original setup.exe as explained here.
The problem here is Case Sensitivity of the table name Contact. You should set collation_name of the Database AdventureWorks as Latin1_General_CI_AS
Check for collation_name:
SELECT name, collation_name
FROM sys.databases
WHERE name = 'AdventureWorks';
GO
If the collation_name is Latin1_General_BIN or Latin1_General_CS_AS change it to Latin1_General_CI_AS
ALTER DATABASE AdventureWorks
COLLATE Latin1_General_CI_AS ;
GO
If the Database has locked to do this action "The database could not be exclusively locked to perform the operation." . Alter the Database to Single User
ALTER DATABASE AdventureWorks SET SINGLE_USER WITH ROLLBACK IMMEDIATE
and do
ALTER DATABASE AdventureWorks
COLLATE Latin1_General_CI_AS ;
GO
Revert back the Database to Multi User finally
ALTER DATABASE AdventureWorks SET MULTI_USER WITH ROLLBACK IMMEDIATE
Or
You can change the Collation in Database Properties.