SET NAMES {'charset_name'
[COLLATE 'collation_name'] | DEFAULT}
This statement sets the three session system variables
character_set_client
,
character_set_connection
, and
character_set_results
to the
given character set. Setting
character_set_connection
to
charset_name
also sets
collation_connection
to the
default collation for charset_name
. See
Section 12.4, “Connection Character Sets and Collations”.
The optional COLLATE
clause may be used to
specify a collation explicitly. If given, the collation must one
of the permitted collations for
charset_name
.
charset_name
and
collation_name
may be quoted or
unquoted.
The default mapping can be restored by using a value of
DEFAULT
. The default depends on the server
configuration.
Some character sets cannot be used as the client character set.
Attempting to use them with SET
NAMES
produces an error. See
Impermissible Client Character Sets.