>> There is no other option, because it will *NEED* to be converted to
>> Strings in Java due to JDBC requirements and therefor you *HAVE* to
>> select an encoding.
>
> Okay, you may fail trying to get those fields as strings instead of
> as byte arrays.
>
> If there is no requirement that string field must always give correct
> value - then it might work.

aha, how that is different from corrupting a database? c'mon, do not
invent workarounds.

> Since i don't know JDBC, i can't say if String Field would allow
> other types of access than AsString. Can one get is as raw byte array
> or not ?

Yes, each field can be accessed via "AsXXX" methods. The driver is
supposed to perform the type conversion. But even if it provides access
to raw data, you cannot suggest that as a standard accessor for
CHAR/VARCHAR fields.

Roman