The "alter session set NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS" command is used to change the number separator from English 1,000.00 to European 1.000,00
example using default American settings numeric format 1,000.00
SQL> alter session set NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS = '.,' ;
Session altered.
SQL> select 123.234 from dual;
123.234
----------
123.234
SQL> select 123,123 from dual;
123 123
---------- ----------
123 123
examples using default European format 1.000,00
14:45:50 SQL> alter session set NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS = ',.';
Session altered.
SQL> select 123.123 from dual;
123.123
----------
123,123
SQL> select 123,123 from dual;
123 123
---------- ----------
123 123
The syntax of this command is the decimal character and group separator has to be different. Note that the syntax for NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS is: NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS = '<decimal character><group separator>'
For example, NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS = ".," means that a '.' is the decimal separator and a ',' is the group (thousands, millions, billions) separator. The Applications generally store numbers with a data type of NUMBER, which allows them to be interpreted correctly with any radix format.
