Odd characters showing small table after using tableDiff

Question

SQLServer tabeDiff is being used to sync DB\'s. The  character has been found in the destination table. I can find nothing on this anywhere, has anyone experienced this? Here i

Answer 1

Are the two databases using the same collation? I would imagine that is what is causing this issue. You should make sure they are using the same collation and then run the tablediff utility again.

More info:

• Using SQL Server Collations
• SQL Server Collation Fundamentals

Risk in changing collation

There is a certain amount of risk in altering the collation of an in-use production database. You need to ensure that it isn't going to mangle the data that is currently there. If all of the current data is ASCII you're probably alright, but it doesn't sound like that is the case if you're having problems like this.

This post: Collation Hell (Part 2) discusses the risks involved in changing the collation of a database. And this technet post describes the differences between the two collations you are using.

I wouldn't do this without testing it on a copy of the production database first. I've never actually needed to modify the collation of a database that is in use and I'm not 100% across the differences between all of the collation types, so I can't really give you specific advice. Do some testing to be sure you're not going to further corrupt your data.