TO_SINGLE_BYTE

Purpose

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

Syntax

TO_SINGLE_BYTE(char)

Parameters

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

Return type

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

Examples

• From multi-byte B in UTF8 to a single-byte B in ASCII.

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

• Converts full-width characters to half-width characters in the input string.

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