source: http://makandracards.com/makandra/2529-show-and-change-mysql-default-character-set mysql> show columns from BOARD; +-----------+---------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | Field | Type | Null | Key | Default | Extra | +-----------+---------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | articleId | int(10) | NO | PRI | NULL | auto_increment | | username | varchar(20) | NO | | NULL | | | password | char(4) | NO | | NULL | | | title | varchar(12) | NO | | NULL | | | content | varchar(3000) | YES | | NULL | | +-----------+---------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ 5 rows in set (0.00 sec) mysql > SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'char%' ; +--------------------------+----------------------------+ | Variable_name | Value | +-------------------------