MySQL Collations

• The character_set_server and collation_server system variables indicate the server character set and collation. See Section 10.3.2, “Server Character Set and Collation”.
• The character_set_database and collation_database system variables indicate the character set and collation of the default database. See Section 10.3.3, “Database Character Set and Collation”.
• The server takes the character_set_client system variable to be the character set in which statements are sent by the client.
• What character set should the server translate statements to after receiving them. To determine this, the server uses the character_set_connection and collation_connection system variables.
• When a client connects to the server, it indicates which character set it wants to use for communication with the server. (Actually, the client indicates the default collation for that character set, from which the server can determine the character set.) The server uses this information to set the character_set_client, character_set_results, character_set_connection system variables to the character set, and collation_connection to the character set default collation.