---
name: "mysql_set_character_set"
section: "3"
platform: "linux"
package: "mariadb"
version: "13.0.2-2"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/mysql_set_character_set"
---

# mysql\_set\_character\_set(3)

### Name

mysql\_set\_character\_set - Sets the default character set for connection

### Synopsis

-

  ```
  #include <mysql.h>
  int mysql_set_character_set(MYSQL * mysql,
                              const char * csname);
  ```

### Description

Sets the default character setfor the current connection. Returns zero on success, non-zero on failure.

### Parameters

- •

  `mysql` - a mysql handle, which was previously allocated by **[mysql\_init(3)](/mysql_init/3.md)** or **[mysql\_real\_connect(3)](/mysql_real_connect/3.md)**.

- •

  `csname` - character set name ### Notes

- •

  It’s strongly recommended to use mysql\_set\_character\_set() instead of `SET NAMES ...` since **[mysql\_real\_escape\_string(3)](/mysql_real_escape_string/3.md)** might fail or deliver unexpected results.

### Return value

Zero on success, non zero if an error occurred

### Supported character sets

The client library supports the following character sets:

| | |
| --- | --- |
| Character set | Description |
| armscii8 | 8 bit character set for Armenian |
| ascii | US ASCII character set |
| big5 | 2 byte character set for traditional Chinese, Hongkong, Macau and Taiwan |
| binary | 8 bit binary character set |
| cp1250 | Windows code page 1250 character set |
| cp1251 | Windows code page 1251 character set |
| cp1256 | Windows code page 1256 character set |
| cp1257 | Windows code page 1257 character set |
| cp850 | MS-DOS Codepage 850 (Western Europe) |
| cp852 | MS-DOS Codepage 852 (Middle Europe) |
| cp866 | MS-DOS Codepage 866 (Russian) |
| cp932 | Microsoft Codepage 932 (Extension to sjis) |
| dec8 | DEC West European |
| eucjpms | UJIS for Windows Japanese |
| euckr | EUC KR-Korean |
| gb2312 | GB-2312 simplified Chinese |
| gbk | GBK simplified Chinese |
| geostd8 | GEOSTD8 Georgian |
| greek | ISO 8859-7 Greek |
| hebrew | ISO 8859-8 Hebrew |
| hp8 | HP West European |
| keybcs2 | DOS Kamenicky Czech-Slovak |
| koi8r | KOI8-R Relcom Russian |
| koi8u | KOI8-U Ukrainian |
| latin1 | CP1252 Western European |
| latin2 | ISO 8859-2 Central Europe |
| latin5 | ISO 8859-9 Turkish |
| latin7 | ISO 8859-13 Baltic |
| macce | MAC Central European |
| macroman | MAC Western European |
| sjis | SJIS for Windows Japanese |
| swe7 | 7-bit Swedish |
| tis620 | TIS620 Thai |
| ucs2 | UCS-2 Unicode |
| ujis | EUC-JP Japanese |
| utf8 | UTF-8 Unicode |
| utf16 | UTF-16 Unicode |
| utf32 | UTF-32 Unicode |
| utf8mb4 | UTF 4-byte Unicode |

### See also

- •

  **[mysql\_get\_character\_set\_info(3)](/mysql_get_character_set_info/3.md)**

- •

  **[mysql\_real\_escape\_string(3)](/mysql_real_escape_string/3.md)**