Collate Table Record For Free

Collations in SQL Server provide sorting rules, case, and accent sensitivity properties to data. A collation defines bit patterns that represent each character in metadata of database. SQL Server supports storing objects that have different collations in database.

It is absolutely possible to database with a different collation on a same SQL Server Instance. It is also possible to create an individual column in a table with different collations from server instance and database as well.

You can get the server collation in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) by right-clicking the SQL instance, then clicking the Properties option and checking the General tab. This collation is selected by default at the installation of SQL Server.

To view a collation setting for a column in Object Explorer In Object Explorer, connect to an instance of Database Engine and then expand that instance. Expand Databases, expand the database and then expand Tables. Expand the table that contains the column and then expand Columns.

MSDN states COLLATE DATABASEDEFAULT clause casts the collation of an expression, column definition, or database definition to inherit the collation of the "current database". To complement MSDN, the "current database" is the context of the database where the query is executed.

You can change the collation of any new objects that are created in a user database by using the COLLATE clause of the ALTER DATABASE statement. This statement does not change the collation of the columns in any existing user-defined tables. These can be changed by using the COLLATE clause of ALTER TABLE.

Collation is a set of rules that tell database engine how to compare and sort the character data in SQL Server. Collation can be set at different levels in SQL Server.