Thread: multibyte-support
[ I hope this message is "right" in the interfaces list! ] Hello, I discovered the multibyte-support of postgreSQL (the documentation is not easy to find ...). After re-compiling with "--with-mb" and "--enable-locale", re-creating the data directory with "initdb -e LATIN1" and re-building my database with "-e LATIN1" as well, I'm able e.g. to get +-proper sorting of strings with German umlauts etc. However, when I try to use the precompiled psql client for Windows from "ftp://ftp.postgresql.org" over a network connection, it is not able to understand the "special" characters like "u umlaut" etc., whether I set CLIENT_ENCODING to either 'WIN', 'ALT', or 'LATIN1' (I think, multibyte support is compiled in the client, at least my unix psql won't let me set this variable if it has no mb). Which encodings do I have to use? The client runs on a vmware virtual PC with German NT 4.0/SP5, the server is a Linux (i386/2.2.14) with postgreSQL 6.5.3. Many thanks for your attention + help, Ulf P.S.: Please CC: me, I'm not on this list at the moment! -- ====================================================================== Ulf Mehlig <umehlig@zmt.uni-bremen.de> Center for Tropical Marine Ecology/ZMT, Bremen, Germany ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> not easy to find ...). After re-compiling with "--with-mb" and Sorry for the inconvenience. I would like to write docs for the multi-byte support in PostgreSQL for the next release. > "--enable-locale", re-creating the data directory with "initdb -e > LATIN1" and re-building my database with "-e LATIN1" as well, I'm able > e.g. to get +-proper sorting of strings with German umlauts > etc. > > However, when I try to use the precompiled psql client for Windows > from "ftp://ftp.postgresql.org" over a network connection, it is not I am not sure the binary being compiled with mb. > able to understand the "special" characters like "u umlaut" etc., > whether I set CLIENT_ENCODING to either 'WIN', 'ALT', or 'LATIN1' (I > think, multibyte support is compiled in the client, at least my unix > psql won't let me set this variable if it has no mb). Sounds strange. I assume you use "set client encoding to 'LATIN1'" or something like that. It is just a query for psql, since psql doesn't parse the contents of the query, it should be possible for non-mb psql to send the query. Anyway, to make sure that you are using mb enabled psql, start postmaster with "-d 3" flag to get debug output (turn off - S. otherwise debug out will not appear). You should get lots of messages including following portions: query: select getdatabaseencoding() ProcessQuery CommitTransactionCommand StartTransactionCommand query: SET client_encoding = 'LATIN1' ProcessUtility: SET client_encoding = 'LATIN1' If not, you gotta into trouble. You need to build mb enabled psql on PC by yourself. Unfortunately I cannot make it for you, since I have very little knowledges about Windows. Maybe Hiroki Kataoka have some suggestions... -- Tatsuo Ishii
Tatsuo Ishii <t-ishii@sra.co.jp> wrote > > not easy to find ...). After re-compiling with "--with-mb" and> > Sorry for the inconvenience. I would like to writedocs for the> multi-byte support in PostgreSQL for the next release. I wouldn't call it "inconvenience" -- you are no paid providers of some service who have to care for their customers "convenience" :-) Many thanks for writing any documentation at all! :) However, maybe it is possible to generally include links to the relevant (?) README files in the HTML documentation or the main README/INSTALL files? > Anyway, to make sure that you are using mb enabled psql, start> postmaster with "-d 3" flag to get debug output (turn off-> S. otherwise debug out will not appear). You should get lots of> messages including following portions [...] You are right, it seems to be that the Windows client is *not* mb enabled; I get only the following debug messages: -------------------------------------------------- debug info: [...] query echo = f InitPostgres reset_client_encoding().. reset_client_encoding() done. -------------------------------------------------- When starting the mb-enabled Unix client, I get among others the messages you described. My assumption that psql without mb is not able to set CLIENT_ENCODING was probably wrong -- I forgot that I compiled backend and psql at the same time, so the error message I got was probably a *backend* message ... > If not, you gotta into trouble. You need to build mb enabled psql on> PC by yourself. The trouble is not as big, I was just playing around, at least for me there is no urgent need for a Windows psql. But wouldn't it be a good idea to generally include mb support? Or is there any reason not to include mb support in the standard configure process? Anyway, many thanks for your help and for providing multibyte support! Regards, Ulf -- ====================================================================== Ulf Mehlig <umehlig@zmt.uni-bremen.de> Center for Tropical Marine Ecology/ZMT, Bremen, Germany ----------------------------------------------------------------------
On Sat, Jan 29, 2000 at 11:15:30PM +0100, Ulf Mehlig wrote: > I discovered the multibyte-support of postgreSQL (the documentation is > not easy to find ...). After re-compiling with "--with-mb" and > "--enable-locale", re-creating the data directory with "initdb -e > LATIN1" and re-building my database with "-e LATIN1" as well, I'm able > e.g. to get +-proper sorting of strings with German umlauts > etc. Why exactly do you need multibyte? I use PostgreSQL for quite some time now with German umlauts using locale de_DE and it works pretty well except thet pgaccess does not display them. But then you mention correct sort order, do you mean you get it to sort a, "a (instead of writing the umlaut), b in this order instead of a, b, "a which is ascii order? Well then I should take a look at it. Michael -- Michael Meskes | Go SF 49ers! Th.-Heuss-Str. 61, D-41812 Erkelenz | Go Rhein Fire! Tel.: (+49) 2431/72651 | Use Debian GNU/Linux! Email: Michael@Fam-Meskes.De | Use PostgreSQL!
> Sorry for the inconvenience. I would like to write docs for the
> multi-byte support in PostgreSQL for the next release.
Maybe we can set aside time to do the full SQL92 character type
support. Then the docs will change a lot anyway :)
- Thomas
--
Thomas Lockhart lockhart@alumni.caltech.edu
South Pasadena, California