Why Specify The Char Length In Varchar?
Feb 6, 2002Newbie question:
Why bother specifing the length in varchar()?
Why not just specify the max and not worry about truncation?
Thanks,
Martin
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Can Varchar Length Be Set To More Than 8000 Char?
May 22, 2006Hi, everyone, I want to know is there a way for me to set varchar to store more than 8000 characters? (I did checked from sql server books online and i know that the maximum storage for varchar, but i just want to know is there any exceptional way for me to store more than that).
Thanks for any reply.
aex
Datatype Question Varchar(max), Varchar(250), Or Char(250)
Oct 18, 2007
I have a table that contains a lot of demographic information. The data is usually small (<20 chars) but ocassionally needs to handle large values (250 chars). Right now its set up for varchar(max) and I don't think I want to do this.
How does varchar(max) store info differently from varchar(250)? Either way doesn't it have to hold the container information? So the word "Crackers" have 8 characters to it and information sayings its 8 characters long in both cases. This meaning its taking up same amount of space?
Also my concern will be running queries off of it, does a varchar(max) choke up queries because the fields cannot be properly analyzed? Is varchar(250) any better?
Should I just go with char(250) and watch my db size explode?
Usually the data that is 250 characters contain a lot of blank space that is removed using a SPROC so its not usually 250 characters for long.
Any insight to this would be appreciated.
Need An Unlimited Length Char Field
Dec 7, 1998Hi,
If I want to make a field of characters to be unlimited length(or maybe 2k for example), what datatype should I use?
Char, varchar and text have a max. limit of 255...
Will appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks,
Nishi
Changing Char Length In Stored Procedures
Aug 11, 2004Hello all, I'm using SQL Server 2000 and have about 250 stored procedures that use an EMPLID parameter or variable of type varchar with a length of 4. I need to change the length to 10 instead and would like to do so without having to open every sp for editing. Is there a way to do this through SQL Server 2000? Does anyone have a script to do this? Any help would be appreciated.
View 1 Replies View RelatedConverting Int To Fixed Length Char With Leading Zeroes
May 25, 1999Hello All,
Can someone tell me how (in SQL) to convert an integer to a fixed length character filled with leading zeros. For example, I have an integer value of '125'. My user wants to see it displayed as '00000125'. How do I get the zeroes to fill in to a char(8) field when the length of the value differs, ie. '1', '125', '3452', etc.
Thanks in advance,
Terry
Store Phone Numbers/Zip Codes As Char(length) Or Numeric Datatypes?
Dec 18, 2003I'm wondering which way is the best way to store your numeric values.
It probably doesnt matter, b/c you can always convert back and forth...but i'm just wondering what the best practice is i guess...
thx
Char Vs Varchar
Dec 5, 2001Hi,
Does any body know of any performance implications of using 'varchar' data type against 'char'?
I have some columns that are using 'char' data type, but the data in them is not fixed length. So, to gain some disk space I am planning to change the data type to 'varchar'. But, I am concerned if there will be any performance de-gradation or any other implications of doing this.
Regards
Chakri
CHAR Vs VARCHAR
Mar 26, 2001Hi,
Is that true that using CHAR datatype improves the performance comparing to VARCHAR
thanks
indeed.
VARCHAR Vs. CHAR
Oct 27, 2000Why would you want to use char when you have varchar? Is there any performance hit using a varchar and the size you make that varchar?
Debate going at work.
Phil
Varchar V Char
Feb 17, 1999I have recently inherited a database where all of the tables use varchar instead of chars for fields. Very , very few of these fields are involved in keys of even indices, but performance is an issue. I thought that I had read that varchars are worse for performance than chars when page splits may occur. Is this related to updates only, or does it matter?
Any help appreciated.
Char (8) Vs. Varchar (8)
May 8, 2006In relation to the code in this thread
http://forums.databasejournal.com/showthread.php?t=42622
My customer code field is Char (8) but accept an argument of Varchar (8) to my stored procedure. Don't ask me why!?!!
The customer code could be anything from 'A' to 'ZZZZZZZZ'.
Will this have any effect especially relating to overhead and retrieving incorrect data?
Char Vs Varchar
Feb 21, 2006Hi,
This question may sound silly,but please comment.
Please tell me a situation where char should be used and not varchar.
Let us assume that we are dealing with non unicode characters.
Well, I find varchar is always smarter than char, so why char?
Thanks!!
Rudra
Varchar And Char
Feb 9, 2004i would like to know if there is an overhead in using VARCHAR when you use to store it...
a colleague of mine claims that if the field is defined to be VARCHAR the system creates and additional column DOUBLE/DECIMAL with storage size of 17/18bytes.
such that if the size of the varchar field is less than 30 it is better to be defined as CHAR instead.
please help me out here... i think there's something wrong with his statement, but i need concrete proof to it... a link to page or pdf file would be very much appreciated.
Char Vs. Varchar
Jul 23, 2005Greetings,I have a question. I work on some SQL2k/ASP.NET apps at work. Mypredacessor, who created the databases/tables seemed to have liked touse 'char' for all text fields. Is there a reason why he would havedone this over using varchar? It's a minor annoyance to always have toRTRIM data and it makes directly making changes to the database moreannoying (with all the pointless trailing spaces)?I usually use char for fixed string lengths, like state abbreviationsor something, and varchar for strings of unknown length.Is it a performance issue? Our database doesn't do much traffic, forthe most part.
View 5 Replies View RelatedVarchar Length
Jul 12, 2004i have problem regarding the row length and varchar.
my problem is on every new row i have +6 more character on one of my field then the last record. and BOL says i can only have 8060 character per row.
What i can not use the full lenght of varchar(8000) on field.
Can anybody help?????????
Nchar, Varchar,char?
Jan 11, 2008What is the difference between the above data types in SQL? Which datatype should I use if I wanted both numbers and characters?
View 1 Replies View RelatedChanged From Char To Varchar
Jun 3, 2004i changed my state table from char 20 to varchar 20 and it still fills it with empty space at the end of the statename
I tried entering it with the trim command still no good
i looked a the sql command made in vs and it says that the variables are varchar
is there something i am missing with varchar
does it only work properly if it is over 50 or does it not change completely when you change from char to varchar
VarChar Or Char Faster?
Mar 30, 2006Does using varchar or varchar(max) affect the system performance?
Should I use fixed size coloumns to increase speed?
Difference Between CHAR And VARCHAR
Aug 8, 2002I have one question to all SQL Guru's
I know the basic difference between CHAR and VARCHAR of CHAR taking all the space it is declared with and VARCHAR taking only amount of space used.
I want to know or link to any doucment which gives the difference between CHAR and VARCHAR more than what is mentioned above.
Please this is a urgent requirment.
Thanks in advance.
Difference Between Char & Varchar
Nov 6, 2007what'z the difference between char & varchar, like i am doing a cast function, which one should be used..
View 11 Replies View RelatedHow Many Char's In Varchar Record
Aug 22, 2005helloHow could I check how many chars are in record, defined as varchar(8000).It's obvious that in such defined record could be 1 char to 8000 char. Butwhat query to SQL database should I post to give information about realylenght of this records ?thanks from advanceAdam
View 5 Replies View RelatedChar Or Varchar For A Primary Key?
May 28, 2007Hi,I'm planning the structure of a SqlServer 2005 database for a newapplication.The requirement is that primary keys must be "natural"; i.e. in the tableCustomers the primary key will be a max. 10 characters string (but thestring may be filled i.e. with only 5 charachters).Should I define these primary keys as char[5] or varchar[5]?I'm interested in your opinion in particular about performace issue, becausethere will be tables with millions of records...Thanks,Davide.
View 7 Replies View RelatedChar Vs Varchar And Indexes
Sep 7, 2007all these while i've only used varchar for any stringi heard from my ex-boss that char helps speed up searches. is thattrue?so there are these:1) char with index2) char without index3) char with clustered index4) varchar with index5) varchar without index6) varchar with clustered indexsome of my tables primary key (clustered) is a string type. would itbe benificial to use char? or would using (6) makes no difference?for non primary key columns that needs to be searched a lot, can i say(1) is the best?
View 4 Replies View RelatedLength Of Varchar In SQL7.0
May 2, 2000Hi,
I am trying to insert text into a varchar(5000) column from a JAVA program. I am using MSDE database (which I believe is a strip down version of SQL7.0), with a variation of ms SQL Server 3.70.06.90 ODBC driver and tds jdbc driver from inet software. With the ODBC driver, I don't get any error but the data saved is only 255 characters. With the latter driver, I get a data truncation error and nothing is saved.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks
- Sharma
VARCHAR Max Field Length
Nov 21, 2000What is the max field length in SQL Server 7.0 that a varchar field can be?
I think 8000. Please advise
Thanks
Varchar/nvarchar Length
Mar 9, 2007Hi,I have a pretty straightforward question to do with variable length fields I hope someone can help me with:When using varchar (or nvarchar), is there any point in specifying a smaller length than the maximum? Does it save space or improve performance at all?ThanksRedit: I suppose the max rowsize is an issue. any others?
View 2 Replies View RelatedVarchar Default Length
Aug 21, 2007
Hi all,
a simple question to ask for varchar type. I want to update a varchar type parameter to a stored procedure to update a table. My question is , if I don't specify the length. and the varchar type will be trimmed to only 1 character. I thought it's supposed to be 50 by default? Besides if I need to compare varchar values, do I need to specify length as well? Cheers.
SQL Variable Char Kinda Like Varchar
Jul 26, 2005Hi, is there a type of data that we don't need to specify the length but can grow dynamically?instead of using varchar 2000, a type that acts like a varchar but the length is unlimited ....Thanks,
View 5 Replies View Related% Performance Impact If Use Varchar Instead Of Char?
Feb 19, 2004Hi,
Anybody have any idea howmuch % of performance will be affect if we are using varchar instead of char data type?.
Thanks,
Ravi
Convert Varchar Or Char To Float
Jan 4, 2006Hello,
Is there a way to convert varchar or char to float?
Thank you
Nchar Or Char Or Nvarchar Or Varchar???
Apr 19, 2004Hi,
Which of the above data type (alongwith size) should be used for storing things like Customer Name, Company name etc . ???
Also, what really is the benefit of one over the over :confused:
Thanks
Char Vs Varchar + Padding Issue
Feb 20, 2008I have upsized some tables from ms access (using the wizard) which has created many nvarchar fields. I know the system doesn't need unicode characters so I straight away changed them to varchar and the system is all working but am now deciding on which ones to change to char as I understand you get a performance gain. I am trying to do this without changing much ms access front end code so don't want to deal with rtrim I am thinking change the ones I can guarantee the length of. These happen to be the primary keys.
My questions are is this the correct way of doing things, am I correct in assuming I would have to rtrim alot in program code if I changed all to char.
Finally and. most importantly what about a single character field which could be null can I make this a char(1) and it will still return null if empty as it would as a varchar(1). I suppose this question is how does the padding work is it the character followed by a number of nulls (ascii 0 I think).
Sorry for the multiple questions but I think they are all related