First, start here: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/string-types.html Stuart wrote: >> varchar: only the space required for the content of the field is >> allocated per row but these fields are limited to 255 chars (IIRC) in >> length. In MySQL, varchar can hold "up to" 65,535 characters, but the actual maximum size is limited by the maximum row length (65,535 bytes) and the character set (e.g. utf8 uses between one and three bytes per character). Maybe you're thinking of char, which is limited to 255 characters. Robert Cummings wrote: >It's generally worth mentioning that you can usually index char or >varchar, but not text. No, you can index a text column, but it will only index part of the column: "Only the first max_sort_length bytes of the column are used when sorting. The default value of max_sort_length is 1024." - TFM. Also, you can create a FULLTEXT index on text columns stored in the MyISAM engine. (which is a PITA, because if you want ACID transactions and full-text searching, you need to create and maintain a MyISAM shadow table of the data you want to full-text search on) -- Ross McKay, Toronto, NSW Australia "The lawn could stand another mowing; funny, I don't even care" - Elvis Costello -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
