Syntax

COLLATION(str)

Description

Returns the collation of the string argument. If str is not a string, it is considered as a binary string (so the function returns 'binary'). This applies to NULL, too. The return value is a string in the utf8 character set.

See Character Sets and Collations.

Examples

SELECT COLLATION('abc');
+-------------------+
| COLLATION('abc')  |
+-------------------+
| latin1_swedish_ci |
+-------------------+

SELECT COLLATION(_utf8'abc');
+-----------------------+
| COLLATION(_utf8'abc') |
+-----------------------+
| utf8_general_ci       |
+-----------------------+

See Also

• String literals
• CAST()
• CONVERT()