How the WEIGHT_STRING() Function Works in MySQL

In MySQL, the WEIGHT_STRING() function returns the weight string for the input string. The return value is a binary string that represents the comparison and sorting value of the string.

If the input string is a nonbinary value, the return value contains the collation weights for the string. If it’s a binary value, the result is the same as the input string. This is because the weight for each byte in a binary string is the byte value.

This function is a debugging function intended for internal use. It can be used for testing and debugging of collations. Note that its behavior can change between MySQL versions.

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