It is most performance-efficient to transfer data between databases that use the same character sets. At times, however, you might need to bulk load data between databases that use different character sets. You can do this by choosing a character set for the bulk load data file that will accommodate all data. If the source table contains character data that uses different character sets, then one of the Unicode character sets, UTF-8, UTF-16BE, or UTF-16LE must be specified for the bulk load data file. A Unicode character set should also be specified in the case of a target table uses a different character set than the source table to minimize conversion errors. If the source and target tables use the same character set, that set should be specified for the bulk load data file.
A character set is defined by a code page. The code page for the bulk load data file is defined in the configuration file and is specified through either the Code Page option of the Export Table driver Setup dialog or through the IANAAppCodePage parameter of the ExportTableToFile function. Any code page listed in Values for IANAAppCodePage Connection String Attribute is supported for the bulk load data file.
Any character conversion errors are handled based on the value of the Report CodePage ConversionErrors connection option.
The configuration file may optionally define a second code page value for each character column (externalfilecodepage). If character data is stored in an external overflow file (see External Overflow Files), this second code page value is used for the external file.
