Verifying Oracle character set definitions

Run an SQL command and check the registry to very that the Oracle character set definitions are set correctly and consistently.

Procedure

  1. Run the following commands while logged in as user oracle, entering your password if required:
    sqlplus /nolog
    connect /as sysdba
  2. From the SQL Plus prompt, enter the following:
    select name, value$ value from props$ where name like
    'NLS_CHARACTERSET' or name like 'NLS_NCHAR_CHARACTERSET';
  3. Verify the following in the results:
    1. Verify that NLS_CHARACTERSET is set to AL32UTF8.
    2. Verify that NLS_NCHAR_CHARACTERSET is set to AL16UTF16.
  4. From your Windows registry editor, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > ORACLE > KEY_ORACLEHOMENAME, where ORACLEHOMENAME is the name of your Oracle home.
  5. Verify that NLS_LANG in this location has a value that corresponds to the value for NLS_CHARACTERSET, that is, AMERICAN_AMERICA.AL32UTF8.