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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How the UNHEX() Function Works in MySQL

In MySQL, the UNHEX() function allows you to “unhex” a string in MySQL. In other words, it allows you to convert a hexadecimal value to a human-readable string.

Specifically, the function interprets each pair of characters in the argument as a hexadecimal number and converts it to the byte represented by the number. The return value is a binary string.

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