NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS

Property	Description
Parameter type	String
Syntax	`NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS =` `"decimal_character` `group_separator"`
Default value	Derived from `NLS_TERRITORY`
Modifiable	`ALTER SESSION`
Basic	No

NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS specifies the characters to use as the group separator and decimal character. It overrides those characters defined implicitly by NLS_TERRITORY. The group separator separates integer groups (that is, thousands, millions, billions, and so on). The decimal separates the integer portion of a number from the decimal portion.

You can specify any character as the decimal or group separator. The two characters specified must be single-byte and must be different from each other. The characters cannot be any numeric character or any of the following characters: plus (+), minus sign (-), less than sign (<), greater than sign (>). Either character can be a space.

For example, if you want to specify a comma as the decimal character and a space as the group separator, you would set this parameter as follows:

NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS = ", "

Note:

The value of this initialization parameter NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS is used to initialize the session value of this parameter, which is the actual value referenced by the SQL query processing. This initial value is overridden by a client-side value if the client uses the Oracle JDBC driver or if the client is OCI-based and the NLS_LANG client setting (environment variable) is defined. The initialization parameter value is, therefore, usually ignored.