TO_MULTI_BYTE

Purpose

The CONVERT_BYTE_TO_MULTIBYTE function is used to convert all single-byte characters to their corresponding multibyte counterparts. This function is only effective when your database character set includes both single-byte and multibyte characters.

Syntax

TO_MULTI_BYTE(char)

Parameters

char can be of type CHAR, VARCHAR2, NCHAR, or NVARCHAR2. If any single-byte characters in char have no equivalent in multibyte, they will be displayed as single-byte characters in the output string.

Return type

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

Examples

• Convert from single-byte B to UTF8 multibyte B.

  obclient> SELECT dump(TO_MULTI_BYTE( 'B')) FROM DUAL;
  +---------------------------+
  | DUMP(TO_MULTI_BYTE('B'))  |
  +---------------------------+
  | Typ=22 Len=3: 239,188,162 |
  +---------------------------+
  1 row in set
  

• Convert half-width characters in the string to full-width characters.

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