TO_SINGLE_BYTE

Purpose

This function is used to convert all multibyte characters to their corresponding single-byte counterparts. This function only works if your database's character set contains both single-byte and multi-byte characters.

Syntax

TO_SINGLE_BYTE(char)

Parameters

char can be of type CHAR, VARCHAR2, NCHAR, or NVARCHAR2. If any multibyte character in char does not have a single-byte equivalent, it is displayed as a multibyte character in the output string.

Return type

The return value is of the same data type as char.

Examples

• Convert multi-byte B values in UTF8 to single-byte B values in ASCII.

  obclient> SELECT TO_SINGLE_BYTE(CHR(15711394)) FROM DUAL;
  +-------------------------------+
  | TO_SINGLE_BYTE(CHR(15711394)) |
  +-------------------------------+
  | B                             |
  +-------------------------------+
  1 row in set
  

• Converts fullwidth characters to halfwidth characters in a string.

  obclient> SELECT TO_SINGLE_BYTE('China A') text FROM DUAL;
  +---------+
  | TEXT    |
  +---------+
  | China A |
  +---------+
  1 row in set