MaxDB Unicode Encoding ?

[nelis]

Hi,

I read in wiki [MaxDB FAQ|https://wiki.sdn.sap.com/wiki/display/MaxDB/FAQ] the following:

How does MaxDB support UNICODE?
MaxDB currently supports UCS-2, also known as UTF-16. The move to UTF-8 is planned. It is a major change in the kernel coding and data structures. The implementation already has started and will take at least until the year 2008. The shipment, which will be in course with MaxDB version 7.8, is expected not before mid of 2009. Beside this we are currently testing prototypes with an on-the-fly conversion from UCS2 or ASCII to UTF-8. In case of success we can possibly offer an intermediate  solution for version 7.7 already.
The experiences with UNICODE migrations based on MaxDB (UCS-2) today show an increase of space requirements around 30-40%.

I am confused as MaxDB says:

srvslssap098:latadm 51> dbmcli -U c dbm_version
OK
VERSION    = 7.6.04
BUILD      = DBMServer 7.6.04   Build 007-123-173-114
OS         = UNIX
INSTROOT   = /sapdb/LAT/db
LOGON      = True
CODE       = UTF8
SWAP       = full
UNICODE    = YES
INSTANCE   = OLTP
SYSNAME    = Linux

Which is true(is it changed to UTF-16 after Unicode conversion) ? ..also where can I find more info regarding Unicode in MaxDB ? ..I'm curious to know how currently a Non-Unicode SAP system works on a Unicode database ? Perhaps I'm misunderstanding completely..

Regards,

Nelis

ps. I have read a lot from /unicode@sap but just interested in MaxDB specifics.

Edited by: Nelis Lamprecht on May 29, 2008 11:45 AM

[lbreddemann]

Hi Nelis,

what you've displayed with "dbm_version" are information about the DBM Server, not about the db instance.

For the DB instance the information you found in the Wiki are correct.

The relevant information for the db instance can be found like that:

C:\WINDOWS>dbmcli -U c param_directget _UNICODE
OK
_UNICODE        YES

C:\WINDOWS>dbmcli -U c param_directget DEFAULT_CODE
OK
DEFAULT_CODE    ASCII

C:\WINDOWS>dbmcli -U c param_directget USEUNICODECOLUMNCOMPRESSION
OK
USEUNICODECOLUMNCOMPRESSION     YES

_UNICODE=YES ==> the db catalog is saved in UCS-2 Unicode

*DEFAULT_CODE=ASCII" ==> if not specified else, the data for character datatypes will be ASCII. If you set it to UNICODE it the data will be stored in UCS-2.

USEUNICODECOLUMNCOMPRESSION=YES ==> when saving unicode data we obmit some data that is not needed and thus save space.

The question concerning the Non-Unicode SAP on a Unicode-DB is not clear to me.

What exactly do you mean by that?

KR Lars

[nelis]

Hi Lars,

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Your answer made my other question null and void, I was a bit confused before.

Thanks.

Regards,

Nelis