Mysql 5.7.20: Cannot create a JSON value from a string with CHARACTER SET 'binary'

Question

I am facing this issue when importing an SQL file with a table with JSON column.

The database has

Encoding: utf8mb4

Collation: utf8mb4_unicode_ci

Here's the table with the json column:

CREATE TABLE `tracking_data` (
  `id` int(10) unsigned NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
  `route` varchar(191) COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci NOT NULL,
  `data` json NOT NULL,
  `user_id` int(10) unsigned NOT NULL,
  `created_at` timestamp NULL DEFAULT NULL,
  `updated_at` timestamp NULL DEFAULT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4 COLLATE=utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

I have read answers from this question on stack overflow which suggest the table must be on utf8mb4. Mine's already, but I am facing this issue still.

This is error is still thrown:

Line XXX: Cannot create a JSON value from a string with CHARACTER SET 'binary'.

When I run show session variables like 'char%';:

    Variable_name   Value 

character_set_client    utf8mb4 

character_set_connection    utf8mb4 

character_set_database  utf8mb4 

character_set_filesystem    binary 

character_set_results   utf8mb4 

character_set_server    latin1 

character_set_system    utf8 

character_sets_dir  /usr/share/mysql/charsets/

How can I fix this? Thanks!

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 31 '18 at 02:00

4

I can reproduce your error if my session character set is binary:

mysql [localhost] {msandbox} (test) > set names binary;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

mysql [localhost] {msandbox} (test) > insert into tracking_data (route, data, user_id) values ('route', '{"route": "value"}', 1);
ERROR 3144 (22032): Cannot create a JSON value from a string with CHARACTER SET 'binary'.

Then I can fix it by setting the session character set to match the table:

mysql [localhost] {msandbox} (test) > set names utf8mb4;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

mysql [localhost] {msandbox} (test) > insert into tracking_data (route, data, user_id) values ('route', '{"route": "value"}', 1);
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.01 sec)

So I conclude that you have set the session character set to binary.

Run show session variables like 'char%'; and see what it tells you.

answered Jan 31 '18 at 02:00

Bill Karwin

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Hi @Bill Karwin When I run `show session variables like 'char%';`, here's the response: – Santosh Achari Feb 07 '18 at 10:41
``` Variable_name Value character_set_client utf8mb4 character_set_connection utf8mb4 character_set_database utf8mb4 character_set_filesystem binary character_set_results utf8mb4 character_set_server latin1 character_set_system utf8 character_sets_dir /usr/share/mysql/charsets/ ``` – Santosh Achari Feb 07 '18 at 10:41
I still am running into this issue when I try and import from a file. – Santosh Achari Feb 07 '18 at 10:41
Some of those session variables may be different in the session you tried to do the import in. – Bill Karwin Feb 07 '18 at 15:28
How can I fix it? – Santosh Achari Feb 07 '18 at 15:29
Run `set names utf8mb4;` in your session before you try the `INSERT`. – Bill Karwin Feb 07 '18 at 16:15

Mysql 5.7.20: Cannot create a JSON value from a string with CHARACTER SET 'binary'

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