Localization Support

Full support by Globalization Technology

The Globalization Technology used by OLAP Services provides much more extensive localization support and is much easier to administer than the localization features of Express Server. The NLS_LANG configuration parameter identifies the instance character set, and the default language and territory, as described in Chapter 5. Setting NLS_LANG correctly is the only localization task that you need to perform for an OLAP service.

If you are upgrading Express databases that used translation tables, then you can delete those tables because they are not needed by OLAP Services. Likewise, you should check your Express programs for use of obsolete commands and keywords that supported translation tables. If you will use OLAP Services to access multibyte data (either in an Express database or external files), then you might find "Multibyte character set equivalents" helpful in choosing a global environment. Note that the CHARSET option is now obsolete.

Support for Globalization Technology has been added to the OLAP DML. These options allow an application to query the current localization settings and override the behaviors controlled by the default language and territory.

Multibyte character set equivalents

The following table identifies equivalent locale settings for multibyte character sets in OLAP Services and Express Server:

Express Server DefaultCharacterSet Parameter or CHARSET Option Value	OLAP Services NLS_LANG Parameter Setting
EUC	JAPANESE_JAPAN.JA16EUC
SHIFTJIS	JAPANESE_JAPAN.JA16SJIS
HANGEUL	KOREAN_KOREA.KO16KSC5601
SCHINESE	SIMPLIFIED CHINESE_CHINA.ZHS16GBK
TCHINESE	TRADITIONAL CHINESE_TAIWAN.ZHT16BIG5