NLS_CHARSET_ID returns the character set ID number corresponding to character set name string. The string argument is a run-time VARCHAR2 value. The string value 'CHAR_CS' returns the database character set ID number of the server. The string value 'NCHAR_CS' returns the national character set ID number of the server.
Invalid character set names return null.
The following example returns the character set ID of a character set:
SELECT NLS_CHARSET_ID('ja16euc')
FROM DUAL;
NLS_CHARSET_ID('JA16EUC')
-------------------------
830
See Also:
Oracle Database Globalization Support Guide for a list of character sets