How to avoid Σ turning to S when we compile in plsql? - plsql

Question

We are tying to use the Σ symbol in our plsql packages. When we compile the packages and execute , the Σ symbol turns to 'S'. Is there any method to avoid this ?
Here is an example:
declare
-- Local variables here
i varchar2(10);
begin
dbms_output.put_line('hello - Σ ');
end;
output
hello - S

Answer 1

That's not a valid ASCII character so you need to use unicode, e.g.:
dbms_output.put_line('hello - ' || unistr('\03A3') || ' ');
Note that dbms_output may not show the correct character depending on your character set.

Answer 2

PL/SQL source code is saved to database in database character set. Databases that use UTF-8 can use UTF-8 also in PL/SQL source code:
with nls_parameters as (
SELECT 1 as depth, 'SESSION' as "LEVEL", parameter, value FROM nls_session_parameters
union all
SELECT 2 as depth, 'INSTANCE' as "LEVEL", parameter, value FROM nls_instance_parameters
union all
SELECT 3 as depth, 'DATABASE' as "LEVEL", parameter, value FROM nls_database_parameters
)
select "LEVEL", parameter, '''' || value || '''' as value
from nls_parameters
where parameter = 'NLS_CHARACTERSET'
order by parameter, depth
;
LEVEL PARAMETER VALUE
-------- ---------------- ----------
DATABASE NLS_CHARACTERSET 'AL32UTF8'
Example:
$ cat /tmp/foo.sql
create procedure foo is
begin
dbms_output.put_line('hello - Σ ');
dbms_output.put_line('μεταφρασμένο από το Google!');
end;
/
$
SQL> #/tmp/foo
Procedure created.
SQL> exec foo
hello - Σ
μεταφρασμένο από το Google!
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
SQL>
Another example:
$ cat /tmp/foo.sql
create procedure fooΣ is
Σ number := 100;
begin
dbms_output.put_line('hello - Σ = ' || Σ);
dbms_output.put_line('μεταφρασμένο από το Google!');
end;
/
SQL> #/tmp/foo
Procedure created.
SQL> exec fooΣ
hello - Σ = 100
μεταφρασμένο από το Google!
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
SQL>
Note that I'm using linux terminal that understands UTF-8.