Set the character set and collate for a table
mysql> mysql> CREATE TABLE TABDEFCOL -> (C1 CHAR(10) NOT NULL, -> C2 VARCHAR(10)) -> CHARACTER SET utf8 -> COLLATE utf8_romanian_ci -> ; Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec) mysql> SELECT COLUMN_NAME, CHARACTER_SET_NAME, COLLATION_NAME -> FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS -> WHERE TABLE_NAME = 'TABDEFCOL'; +-------------+--------------------+------------------+ | COLUMN_NAME | CHARACTER_SET_NAME | COLLATION_NAME | +-------------+--------------------+------------------+ | C1 | utf8 | utf8_romanian_ci | | C2 | utf8 | utf8_romanian_ci | +-------------+--------------------+------------------+ 2 rows in set (0.00 sec) mysql> mysql> drop table TABDEFCOL; Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec) mysql>