How to Fix PostgreSQL Error: Character Not in Repertoire

The "Character not in repertoire" error occurs when attempting to insert characters that are not valid in the database's character encoding, similar to invalid byte sequence errors.

Impact

Prevents data insertion containing incompatible characters, blocking imports from systems with different encodings.

Common Causes

1. Character encoding mismatch
2. Invalid characters for database encoding
3. Binary data in text fields
4. Control characters in text
5. Encoding conversion failures

Troubleshooting and Resolution Steps

1. Check and set encoding:

   -- Check database encoding
   SHOW server_encoding;
   
   -- Set client encoding
   SET client_encoding = 'UTF8';
   

2. Clean invalid characters:

   # Python: Remove invalid characters
   def clean_text(text):
       # Remove null bytes and control characters
       text = text.replace('\x00', '')
       text = ''.join(char for char in text
                     if char.isprintable() or char in '\n\r\t')
       return text
   

3. Use convert functions:

   -- Convert encoding
   SELECT convert_from(convert_to('text', 'UTF8'), 'LATIN1');
   

Additional Information

• UTF-8 supports all Unicode characters
• Use UTF-8 for new databases
• Clean data before insertion
• Test imports with sample data first

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What encoding should I use?
A: UTF-8 is recommended for maximum compatibility and Unicode support.

Q: Can I change database encoding?
A: No, must recreate database. Set encoding at creation time.