Performance issues

Performance for character data is better with a binary character set and collation sequence than with a non-binary one.

To maximize performance, create a database with these default option settings:

CREATE DATABASE dbname
COLLATION 'ISO_BINENG' 
CASE RESPECT

These options result in a binary character set and collation sequence. All other settings for these two options form a non-binary character set and collation sequence.

The disadvantage of these settings is that uppercase characters are always sorted before lowercase ones. For example, BANANA sorts before apple. If you prefer a more natural sort order, but still need a case sensitive database, and you are willing to sacrifice some degree of performance, use the collation ISO_1 instead of the default, ISO_BINENG.

NoteBy default, password case sensitivity follows case sensitivity of the database. When your database uses the CASE RESPECT option (the default), passwords are also case sensitive by default. You can override this default using the PASSWORD CASE IGNORE clause of CREATE DATABASE, which makes passwords case insensitive regardless of the database setting.

When passwords are case sensitive, you must enter the password as it has been defined, and the DBA's default password must be entered in uppercase. (The user ID is unaffected by the CASE RESPECT option.) For example, you could enter the CONNECT statement as follows:

connect database dbasiq user dba identified by SQL

You would not be able to connect if you entered this statement as:

connect database dbasiq user dba identified by sql