sorting and NLS_LANGUAGE
29644Feb 1 2006 — edited Feb 1 2006I have an example table (TEMP) with one column (NAME VARCHAR2(10)), in which I inserted exactly two values: 'S/SP' and 'SIMEA'.
When I try to select the rows and to sort it, the result differs, depending on the NLS_LANGUAGE I set:
SQL> alter session set nls_language=GERMAN;
Session wurde geändert.
SQL> select name from temp order by 1;
NAME
----------
SIMEA
S/SP
SQL> alter session set nls_language=AMERICAN;
Session altered.
SQL> select name from temp order by 1;
NAME
----------
S/SP
SIMEA
SQL>
But why? In both German and American language, the "/" (slash) has an ASCII value of 47, and the letters begin with the value of 65. So in my opinion, the result of my select should always be the same, no matter which NLS_LANGUAGE I have set.
Regards,
Ralf Zwanziger