> Octets will allow 0x0 bytes, and that's what I would
> use for encrypted data. The fact that zeros are the pad
> character doesn't matter - most character sets use space
> as a pad - that doesn't make space an illegal character.

Thanks.

What is the cost/loss of moving from NONE to Octets?

Note that some databases may not have their data encrypted, others
will. So will an un-encrypted database have the ability to sort?