But how are you importing the data. What encoding are you using when you read the data in? Just because the database is storing these values doesn't mean that the problem is at the database end - it's entirely possible that the problem is at the data population end. I have CDO, it's OCD with the letters in the right order; just as they ruddy well should be Forgive your enemies - it messes with their heads My blog | My articles | MoXAML PowerToys | Onyx