Changing Or Choosing the Database Character Set ( NLS_CHARACTERSET )
(Doc ID 225912.1)
Last updated on SEPTEMBER 10, 2023
Applies to:
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure - Database Service - Version N/A and later Oracle Database Cloud Exadata Service - Version N/A and later Oracle Database Backup Service - Version N/A and later Oracle Database Cloud Service - Version N/A and later Oracle Database - Standard Edition - Version 8.1.7.4 and later Information in this document applies to any platform.
Purpose
Scope
Anyone trying to change the NLS_CHARACTERSET.
There are still "dba's" out there who try to change the NLS_CHARACTERSET or NLS_NCHAR_CHARACTERSET by updating props$ . This is NOT supported and WILL corrupt your database. This is one of the best way's to destroy a complete dataset.
The first step to take if this is done is a complete restore of the database. If no backup is available Oracle Support will TRY to help you out of this but Oracle will NOT warrant that the data can be recovered or recovered data is correct and you WILL be asked to do a FULL export and a complete rebuild of the database.
Please, do NOT update props$.
Details
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