Windows Collation Sorting Styles
On the Collation Settings screen you can choose Binary sort order, or you can define the sorting styles to use with the Collation Designator (Windows collation name) selected.
Note For Windows collations, the nchar, nvarchar, and ntext data types have the same sorting behavior as char, varchar, and text data types. For more information, see SQL Server Collation Fundamentals.
| Sort order | Description |
|---|---|
| Binary | Sorts and compares data in Microsoft® SQL Server™ tables based on the bit patterns defined for each character. Binary sort order is case-sensitive, that is lowercase precedes uppercase, and accent-sensitive. This is the fastest sorting order.
If this option is not selected, SQL Server follows sorting and comparison rules as defined in dictionaries for the associated language or alphabet. |
| Case-sensitive | Specifies that SQL Server distinguish between uppercase and lowercase letters.
If not selected, SQL Server considers the uppercase and lowercase versions of letters to be equal. SQL Server does not define whether lowercase letters sort lower or higher in relation to uppercase letters when Case-sensitive is not selected. |
| Accent-sensitive | Specifies that SQL Server distinguish between accented and unaccented characters. For example, 'a' is not equal to 'á'.
If not selected, SQL Server considers the accented and unaccented versions of letters to be equal. |
| Kana-sensitive | Specifies that SQL Server distinguish between the two types of Japanese kana characters: Hiragana and Katakana.
If not selected, SQL Server considers Hiragana and Katakana characters to be equal. |
| Width-sensitive | Specifies that SQL Server distinguish between a single-byte character (half-width) and the same character when represented as a double-byte character (full-width).
If not selected, SQL Server considers the single-byte and double-byte representation of the same character to be equal. |