Identifying the Locale

What is the locale?

The locale is the character set, language, and territory. The format for specifying this environment is language_territory.character set. For a list of valid keywords, refer to the following:

• "Supported Languages and Territories"

• "Supported Character Sets"

To specify the default values that apply to all sessions of a particular instance of OLAP Services, set the OLAP Services locale configuration parameters. Users can override the language and territory settings for their sessions.

Specifying the instance character set

NLS_LANG is a configuration parameter that identifies the locale for an instance of OLAP Services. The character set specified in NLS_LANG is the instance character set, and thus the analytic workspace character set for all workspaces created or upgraded using this instance. To set NLS_LANG, follow the guidelines in "Choosing an Instance Character Set".

The language and territory components are much less important since they are set on a session-by-session basis by client applications.

Be sure to test the new configuration by viewing text data in OLAP Services, preferably through the client applications that this instance is intended to support. If you see meaningless characters (such as boxes or question marks), then your choice of character set is incorrect.

Rules determining the instance character set

The instance character set for a session is determined by the following rules:

1. NLS_LANG parameter setting, if it has a supported value

2. WE8ISO8859P1 (ISO Latin I) if available

3. US7ASCII (7-bit ASCII)

Related information

For more information about configuration parameters, search for them by name in Instance Manager Help.