SQL Anywhere database - Howto display chinese characters data in ISQL

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Howto display chinese characters data in ISQL

Rudy Sujanto

2005-10-27, 7:40 am

Hi all,

I tried displaying Simplified Chinese characters data in ISQL but only
blank little boxes are displayed instead. Is there a way to display them
correctly?

I have created a new database using the PRC Chinese collation, installed
East Asian languages support in my WinXP Home machine. My front-end apps
have displayed the characters correctly, but when I tried so SELECT the
column in ISQL, they appear as those little boxes.

TIA
Rudy Sujanto

Chris Irie

2005-10-27, 7:40 am

When working with foreign language text, you may encounter problems
displaying table data in Interactive SQL. Typically, some or all of the
foreign characters are displayed as hollow rectangles. This is Interactive
SQL's way of displaying undisplayable characters -- that is, characters
which can't be displayed using the currently selected font.

On Windows, Interactive SQL uses the Windows desktop font to display result
sets. The "desktop font" is the one Windows uses to draw the labels beside
the icons on your desktop.

For Interactive SQL 9.0.0 and earlier, you have to change the desktop font
to change the font used by Interactive SQL to display text. Starting in
version 9.0.1, you can specify the font in Interactive SQL itself without
modifying your desktop. In either case, you first need to identify a font
which can display the foreign characters you need to display. "Arial
Unicode MS" is a good font to choose if you have it installed; it can
display characters from many languages.

Here is a procedure for changing the desktop font. Use this if you have
Interactive SQL 9.0.0 or earlier. The procedure is for Windows XP, though
the steps are similar for Windows 2000 and earlier:

1. Right-click on the desktop and click "Properties"
2. Click the "Appearance" tab
3. Click the "Advanced" button
4. Select "Icon" in the "Item" combo box
5. Change the contents of the "Font" box to the name of a font that can
display Chinese.
6. Click the "OK" button to close the "Advanced Appearance" dialog
7. Click the "OK" button to close the "Display Properties" dialog

If you have Interactive SQL 9.0.1 or later, here are the steps for
specifying a custom font from within Interactive SQL itself:

1. Click the Tools/Options menu item
2. Click the "Results" item in the list on the left of the "Options" dialog.
3. On the right side of the dialog, you'll find a section labeled "Font"
with three radio buttons. By default, "System font" is selected, which tells
Interactive SQL to use the Windows desktop font as described above. If you
click the "Editor font" button, result sets will be displayed using whatever
font you have chosen for the editor in the "SQL Statements" field. If you
click the "Custom font" button, you can choose any font you like by clicking
the "Browse" button.

-- Chris Irie
iAnywhere Solutions

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