### 26.3.4 The INFORMATION\_SCHEMA CHARACTER\_SETS Table

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 The [`CHARACTER_SETS`](information-schema-character-sets-table.html) table provides information about available character sets.

 The [`CHARACTER_SETS`](information-schema-character-sets-table.html) table has these columns:

* `CHARACTER_SET_NAME`

   The character set name.

* `DEFAULT_COLLATE_NAME`

   The default collation for the character set.

* `DESCRIPTION`

   A description of the character set.

* `MAXLEN`

   The maximum number of bytes required to store one character.

#### Notes

 Character set information is also available from the [`SHOW CHARACTER SET`](show-character-set.html) statement. See [Section 13.7.7.3, “SHOW CHARACTER SET Statement”](show-character-set.html). The following statements are equivalent:

```
SELECT * FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.CHARACTER_SETS
  [WHERE CHARACTER_SET_NAME LIKE 'wild']

SHOW CHARACTER SET
  [LIKE 'wild']
```

