ALTER DATABASE db_name alter_specification [, alter_specification] ....

alter_specification:
[DEFAULT] CHARACTER SET charset_name
| [DEFAULT] COLLATE collation_name

ALTER DATABASE allows you to change the overall characteristics of a database.

The CHARACTER SET clause changes the database character set. The COLLATE clause changes the database collation.

Database characteristics are stored in the `db.opt' file in the database directory.

To use ALTER DATABASE, you need the ALTER privilege on the database.

ALTER DATABASE was added in MySQL 4.1.1.

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