Encoding and case sensitivity

Depending on the database type, you may have the option to select a collation sequence during database creation. The collation sequence determines the sort order and the case-sensitivity of the database. If you cannot select the collation sequence, it is advisable to find out how it is already defined.

The encoding used by the database is important when considering support for non-English languages. Ensure that the database can store the data in any languages that may be used in your system.

Case-sensitivity is of particular importance when looking up a user account. It determines whether the users must get the correct case for their user IDs when logging on.

If your database collation sequence is case-sensitive, user JSmith would have to log on as exactly JSmith, not jsmith.

If you want a case-insensitive user ID and domain lookup, but your database does not behave this way by default, you have two options:

• Choose a case-insensitive collation sequence for the database.
• Use a configuration option in OneSpan Authentication Server to convert user ID and domain names to all lower case.

The configuration setting for case-sensitivity can be set up in the Maintenance Wizard before data is stored in the database. This setting can be changed later using the Configuration Utility. However, since the new setting value may invalidate existing user accounts and domain records, additional work may be required.

For example, if you have a user ID in mixed case and you change the setting to convert to lower case, the user account with this user ID must be deleted and re-created.

This setting is especially important for the master domain. If you plan to configure the OneSpan Authentication Server to convert user IDs and domains to lower case, change the name of the master domain before changing the case setting. For more information, see Master domains.

The embedded database created by the setup program uses UTF-8 encoding. In addition, as this results in case-sensitive collation, the option to convert user IDs and domain names to lower case is set by default.