sys-syscharsets-transact-sql.md

title	sys.syscharsets (Transact-SQL)
description	sys.syscharsets (Transact-SQL)
author	rwestMSFT
ms.author	randolphwest
ms.date	03/15/2017
ms.service	sql
ms.subservice	system-objects
ms.topic	reference
ms.custom	ignite-2025
f1_keywords	sys.syscharsets syscharsets sys.syscharsets_TSQL syscharsets_TSQL
helpviewer_keywords	syscharsets system table sys.syscharsets compatibility view
dev_langs	TSQL
monikerRange	>=aps-pdw-2016 || =azuresqldb-current || =azure-sqldw-latest || >=sql-server-2016 || >=sql-server-linux-2017 || =azuresqldb-mi-current || =fabric || =fabric-sqldb

sys.syscharsets (Transact-SQL)

[!INCLUDE sql-asdb-asdbmi-asa-pdw-fabricse-fabricdw-fabricsqldb]

Contains one row for each character set and sort order defined for use by the [!INCLUDEssDEnoversion]. One of the sort orders is marked in sysconfigures as the default sort order. This is the only one actually being used.

Column name	Data type	Description
type	smallint	Type of entity this row represents: 1001 = Character set. 2001 = Sort order.
id	tinyint	Unique ID for the character set or sort order. Note sort orders and character sets cannot share the same ID number. The ID range of 1 through 240 is reserved for use by the [!INCLUDEssDE].
csid	tinyint	If the row represents a character set, this field is unused. If the row represents a sort order, this field is the ID of the character set that the sort order is built on. It is assumed a character set row with this ID exists in this table.
status	smallint	Internal system status information bits.
name	sysname	Unique name for the character set or sort order. This field must contain only the letters A-Z or a-z, numbers 0 - 9, and underscores(_); and it must start with a letter.
description	nvarchar(255)	Optional description of the features of the character set or sort order.
binarydefinition	varbinary(6000)	[!INCLUDEssInternalOnly]
definition	image	Internal definition of the character set or sort order. The structure of the data in this field depends on the type.

See Also

Mapping System Tables to System Views (Transact-SQL)
Compatibility Views (Transact-SQL)