When creating a database to be accessed via JDBC
it is important to select an appropriate encoding for your data. Many
other client interfaces do not care what data you send back and forth,
and will allow you to do inappropriate things, but Java makes sure that
your data is correctly encoded. Do not use a database that uses the
SQL_ASCII
encoding. This is not a real
encoding and you will have problems the moment you store data in it that
does not fit in the seven bit ASCII character set.
If you do not know what your encoding will be or are otherwise unsure
about what you will be storing the UNICODE
encoding
is a reasonable default to use.