On Tue, Feb 5, 2013 at 9:15 PM, Barry Leiba <barryleiba@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >> The question is what happens when the SQL file itself carries no >> charset information, such as when using "mysql-dump" with the >> "--skip-set-charset" option. According to MYSQL, UTF-8 would be used >> in v5.1+ and ASCII in versions prior to that. Perhaps, we should leave >> "charset" as an optional parameter for cases like these, and just take >> out the default value. > > That sounds to me like the way to go. Perhaps a "MUST use" the > charset parameter when the SQL file carries no charset information, > "MUST NOT use" otherwise? > MUST may be an overkill, especially in cases where the web server has no way of knowing what the charset is or whether it is present. I would think that SHOULD USE and SHOULD NOT USE maybe a better alternative. Yakov