what is collation ?

[rhishi20]

i have read that when i want to store unicode characters then we have to use nvarchar as datatype and if we are storing regular type of characters then we can use varchar as datatype. i heard that collation is related with unicode characters but not knowing what is mean by collation? and how it is related with unicode characters ?

 

when i have done sp_help tablename

 

one of the column displays

 

collation

-----------

 

SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS

 

so please tell me this means what ?

Edited December 26, 2013 by rhishi20

[justsomeguy]

Collation and character set mean the same thing. It is the way the characters are stored in a binary fashion. Different collations store characters differently. Unicode has a defined way on how characters get stored, so when you choose a unicode collation then that's how it stores the characters.