CREATE COLLATION
CREATE COLLATION — define a new collation
Synopsis
CREATE COLLATIONname( [ LOCALE =locale, ] [ LC_COLLATE =lc_collate, ] [ LC_CTYPE =lc_ctype])CREATE COLLATIONnameFROMexisting_collation
Description
CREATE COLLATION defines a new collation using the specified operating system locale settings, or by copying an existing collation.
To be able to create a collation, you must haveCREATE privilege on the destination schema.
Parameters
nameThe name of the collation. The collation name can be schema-qualified. If it is not, the collation is defined in the current schema. The collation name must be unique within that schema. (The system catalogs can contain collations with the same name for other encodings, but these are ignored if the database encoding does not match.)
localeThis is a shortcut for setting
LC_COLLATEandLC_CTYPEat once. If you specify this, you cannot specify either of those parameters.lc_collateUse the specified operating system locale for the
LC_COLLATElocale category. The locale must be applicable to the current database encoding. (SeeCREATE DATABASE for the precise rules.)lc_ctypeUse the specified operating system locale for the
LC_CTYPElocale category. The locale must be applicable to the current database encoding. (SeeCREATE DATABASE for the precise rules.)existing_collationThe name of an existing collation to copy. The new collation will have the same properties as the existing one, but it will be an independent object.
Notes
UseDROP COLLATION to remove user-defined collations.
SeeSection 22.2 for more information about collation support in Postgres Pro.
Examples
To create a collation from the operating system localefr_FR.utf8 (assuming the current database encoding isUTF8):
CREATE COLLATION french (LOCALE = 'fr_FR.utf8');
To create a collation from an existing collation:
CREATE COLLATION german FROM "de_DE";
This can be convenient to be able to use operating-system-independent collation names in applications.
Compatibility
There is aCREATE COLLATION statement in the SQL standard, but it is limited to copying an existing collation. The syntax to create a new collation is aPostgres Pro extension.