Not sure if SQL & PL/SQL is the best place to ask; there's no “natural” place for LiveSQL questions, but perhaps this would be better asked in Oracle Database Discussions? Leaving it to moderators to decide (and move, if deemed appropriate).
I was trying something on LiveSQL, and I needed to change NLS_COMP and NLS_SORT. It seems to me that that doesn't work; asking here whether that is known, and whether it is a bug or an intentional feature. (And if it is intentional, perhaps the reason for it too.)
On LiveSQL, I can change NLS_DATE_FORMAT at the session level, for example, and then checking with “show parameter NLS_DATE_FORMAT” I can see that the parameter was indeed changed (and it does work as expected in subsequent statements).
However, if I change NLS_COMP or NLS_SORT with ALTER SESSION, and then I check with “show parameter”, the parameters are not changed; they remain both BINARY, regardless of what values I try to assign in ALTER SESSION. Annoyingly, when I execute ALTER SESSION, the only feedback is “statement processed” as if everything was OK; if the behavior (ignore changes to these parameters) is intentional, I would expect a message like “these parameters cannot be changed” or “this feature is not implemented”, not “statement processed”.
I tried various things, like “set nls_comp=linguistic”, “set nls_sort=french” etc. - always with the same result, or lack thereof. The statement is, in fact, processed; if I give an invalid value to NLS_SORT, I do get the expected error message, “ORA-12705: Cannot access NLS data files or invalid environment specified”.
Thoughts? Thank you, - mathguy