Re: Unicode, ODBC and MS Access

Hello,

I have some problems which I think have to do with Unicode strings in
Windows.

Currently, my database is set to Unicode encoding (which I understand means
UTF-8). I use Windows-based programs (running on .NET) through ODBC to
insert some text in UCS-2 encoding.

Now when I try to read that data using the same client program, it
sometimes truncates long strings (after a few hundred characters or so).

Moreover, if I access the same tables using Access XP, in most cases the
text is garbled. I see only fragments of the text, with garbage characters
in it, or in some cases no text at all.

What is the correct way to set up a database (with appropriate encoding)
and ODBC drivers so that Windows programs can read and write Unicode text
(UCS-2)?

Thanks,
Marcus B.

Marcus Better wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> I have some problems which I think have to do with Unicode strings in
> Windows.
>
> Currently, my database is set to Unicode encoding (which I understand means
> UTF-8). I use Windows-based programs (running on .NET) through ODBC to
> insert some text in UCS-2 encoding.
>
> Now when I try to read that data using the same client program, it
> sometimes truncates long strings (after a few hundred characters or so).
>
> Moreover, if I access the same tables using Access XP, in most cases the
> text is garbled. I see only fragments of the text, with garbage characters
> in it, or in some cases no text at all.
>
> What is the correct way to set up a database (with appropriate encoding)
> and ODBC drivers so that Windows programs can read and write Unicode text
> (UCS-2)?

Which driver are you using ?

regards,
Hiroshi Inoue
http://www.geocities.jp/inocchichichi/psqlodbc/

> Which driver are you using ?

PostgreSQL+ Unicode (Beta) version 7.02.0003.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Marcus Better [mailto:marcus(at)dactylis(dot)com]
>
> > Which driver are you using ?
>
> PostgreSQL+ Unicode (Beta) version 7.02.0003.

Please try the snapshot dll at
http://www.geocities.jp/inocchichichi/psqlodbc/ .
Maybe a little better.

regards,
Hiroshi Inoue

Emmanuel Charpentier wrote:
>
> This is mostly a success note, to let all potential ODBC users
> know that the "snapshot" ODBC drivers as proposed by Hiroshi are
> a great help ... for use with Windows applications. Those drivers
> have cured me of at least two big headaches.
>
> Therefore a question : Hiroshi : do you plan to port them back
> to the Unix source tree ? They would be *really* useful, if only
> for Openoffice and/or R users (I'm both ...). I tried to port the
> enhancements you propose in the unix source tree (as (magnificiently)
> maintained by Oliver Elphick) ... and botched up royally !

I seem to have committed most changes in the snapshot to
the current cvs.

> Another one : the "example" jpeg about miltibyte character support
> on the snapshot page exhibits a checked "(Exp) Updatable cursors"
> checkbox. However, the SQL commands doc for DECLARE tells me that
> PostgreSQL cursors are still read-only. Which is right ?

The Updatable cursor functionality is implemented in the
driver not at the backend side.

> A couple of suggestions, too : updating the driver's docs about
> novelties in 7.3 (schema, among others) would be a Good Thing (TM).
> Reintegrating this doc (even in a terse format) in the "Client
> interfaces" part of the PostgreSQL doc tree would be a Yet Better
> Thing (R). And referring the "snapshot drivers" page somewhere on
> the Gborg site would be a great idea, too ...

Unfortunately I'm not a native English speaker. I hope
someone would update it.

regards,
Hiroshi Inoue
http://www.geocities.jp/inocchichichi/psqlodbc/