Document information

Document ID:	767
Subject:	How can I change the decimal separator from a dot to a comma?
Creation date:	7/29/09 2:56 PM
Last modified on:	7/29/09 2:56 PM

Details

WinSQL does not format any values that you see in the result grid. Results are displayed as-is from the server. Therefore, all formatting must be done either through SQL queries by changing settings on the server, or using the configuration parameters in the ODBC driver.

One common problem faced by users in countries other than United States is the formatting of decimal values. Many countries use a comma as a decimal separator instead of a dot, which is used in the US.

By default, Oracle expect a period (.) for the decimal character and a comma (,) for the thousands character. These values are often changed for localization and for some financial applications.

Run the following query to see the default settings on your server.

select * from NLS_DATABASE_PARAMETERS

The value for NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS define which characters are used for decimal and thousand separator. Use the following query to change your session settings.

ALTER SESSION SET NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS = ', '

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