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internationalizationoracle10gnlsnls-lang

Oracle 10g NLS Parameters


Could people please let me know if there are any issues with setting Oracle 10g NLS Parameters at database level, specifically the NLS_TERRITORY to the country I am in together with setting the timezone to UTC.

Will there be any conflicts b/c as the moment, our NLS_TERRITORY is set to AMERICA which is not correct?

Thanks.


Solution

  • With Oracle, you must be cautious with the NLS parameters in general. Documentation is always a good idea: NLS / Globalization stuff

    Note that the NLS_TERRITORY parameter is derived from NLS_LANG. So, you should be able to affect the NLS_TERRITORY parameter by changing NLS_LANG. (This should be synched up in any case.)

    After you get through that (please do read it), you will probably be thinking "Hey, we have existing data, will we need to perform any conversions on it after changing the parameter?"

    1. TAKE A BACKUP! BEFORE CHANGING THE PARAMETER. PLEASE
    2. And yes, you may have to perform some data conversion, depending on how things have been stored, and what territory you change to.

    Also keep in mind that any client software that uses this database should have its NLS_LANG (especially the characterset portion of it) set the same as the database - otherwise data can get mangled.