Syntax
decompose::=
Text description of decompose
Purpose
DECOMPOSE is valid only for Unicode characters. DECOMPOSE takes as its argument a string in any datatype and returns a Unicode string after decomposition in the same character set as the input. For example, an o-umlaut codepoint will be returned as the "o" codepoint followed by an umlaut codepoint.
string can be any of the datatypes CHAR, VARCHAR2, NCHAR, NVARCHAR2, CLOB, or NCLOB.CANONICAL causes canonical decomposition, which allows recomposition (for example, with the COMPOSE function) to the original string. This is the default.COMPATIBILITY causes decomposition in compatibility mode. In this mode, recomposition is not possible. This mode is useful, for example, when decomposing half-width and full-width katakana characters, where recomposition might not be desirable without external formatting or style information.
Examples
The following example decomposes the string "Châteaux" into its component codepoints:
SELECT DECOMPOSE ('Châteaux') FROM DUAL;
DECOMPOSE
---------
Cha^teaux
