Performing a Linguistic Sort

The NLS_SORT data store connection attribute indicates which collating sequence to use for linguistic comparisons. The NLS_SORT value affects the SQL string comparison operators and the ORDER BY clause.

You can use the ALTER SESSION statement to change the value of NLS_SORT:

Command> ALTER SESSION SET NLS_SORT=SWEDISH;
Command> SELECT product_name FROM product ORDER BY product_name;

PRODUCT NAME
------------
aerial
Antenne
Lcd
ächzen
Ähre

You can also override the NLS_SORT setting by using the NLSSORT SQL function to perform a linguistic sort:

SELECT * FROM test ORDER BY NLSSORT(name,'NLS_SORT=SPANISH');

Note:

For materialized views and cache groups, TimesTen recommends that you explicitly specify the collating sequence using the NLSSORT() SQL function rather than using this attribute in the connection string or DSN definition.

See NLS_SORT in the Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database Reference. For more extensive examples of using NLSSORT, see NLSSORT in the Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database SQL Reference.