Storing large amounts of data in one field - MySQL

[teser3@hotmail.com]

I have a Cold Fusion front end where I want to populate a MySql
database with archive information.
The front end puts in status and I then copy the old status to a latest
history field. Then if the status gets updated it does the same thing
but the history info is deleted.


Now I want to add an archive field to be able to keep appending so I
can keep all of the history.


UPDATE theTable
SET archive = "archive" "lastesthistory",
lastesthistory = "status",
status = "form.status"
WHERE projId = projID


Please advise because the above sql is not working.

Also what is the data type I should use for my archive field to store
all my historical information? I want to use the biggest data type
available in MySql.
Each record will be updated once a week and I have about 150 records.

Please advise.

[Bill Karwin]

<teser3hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1141957667.972564.38380i40g2000cwc.googlegro ups.com...

> UPDATE theTable
> SET archive = "archive" "lastesthistory",
> lastesthistory = "status",
> status = "form.status"
> WHERE projId = projID
>
> Please advise because the above sql is not working.

String concatentation in MySQL is done with the CONCAT() function by
default.
See [url]http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/string-functions.html[/url]

You can also set the ANSI SQL mode and make it use the double-pipe symbol ||
for string concatenation, if you prefer syntax compliant with the ANSI
standard. See PIPES_AS_CONCAT in
[url]http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/server-sql-mode.html[/url]

> Also what is the data type I should use for my archive field to store
> all my historical information? I want to use the biggest data type
> available in MySql.

LONGTEXT can store up to 4GB of data in a single field.
See [url]http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/string-type-overview.html[/url]

Regards,
Bill K.