Oracle Database 10g Developer 6i Settings For Arabic Urdu Support Work Guide
Critical Note:
Developer 6i was released before Unicode became standard. It uses ASCII and code pages (character sets). It does not fully support UTF-8 for display in all controls, but you can store and retrieve Arabic/Urdu text if configured correctly.
2.3 Reports 6i – Arabic/Urdu Support
Registry Key
: Open regedit and navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE (or the specific HOME key for 6i, e.g., HOME0 ).
AR8MSWIN1256
| Character Set | Supports | Best for | |---|---|---| | | Arabic, Persian, Urdu (basic) | Developer 6i (top choice) | | AL32UTF8 | Full Unicode (all languages) | Modern apps, but may have Dev6i display glitches | | AR8ISO8859P6 | Arabic only | Legacy systems | Critical Note: Developer 6i was released before Unicode
Changing Character Set:
If the database is already created with a Western set (like WE8MSWIN1252 ), you may need to recreate it or use ALTER DATABASE commands in a restricted session, though migration is complex if data already exists. 2. Developer 6i (Forms & Reports) Client Settings
Note for Urdu
: Even though NLS_LANG says "ARABIC", using AL32UTF8 allows Urdu characters to pass through. Developer 6i (Forms & Reports) Client Settings Note
Create or modify string value:
During installation:
Note: If your database is strictly AL32UTF8 , you may need to rely heavily on the NLS_LANG settings in the next step to force the conversion, but native support is always more stable.