VARCHAR or not ?

[Dirk Moolman]

Solaris 8
IDS 7.31 FD3


We have to create a table, that will contain a code, a short description and then a long description (up to 2000 characters).
This is basically a lookup table, and will be used for browsing, verifying and selecting codes.

Varchar has a limit of 255 characters. Does this mean I have to define a char(2000) column for the long description ?

Any suggestions ?


Regards
Dirk



sending to informix-list

[Gorazd Hribar Rajteriè]

....

> Varchar has a limit of 255 characters. Does this mean I have to define a

char(2000) column for the long description ?
Basically - YES. You could also use TEXT field, but I wouldn't recommend it.

> Any suggestions ?

Split your description into multiple lines which can then be of VARCHAR
type.

Gorazd

[Obnoxio The Clown]

Dirk Moolman wrote:

> Solaris 8
> IDS 7.31 FD3
>
>
> We have to create a table, that will contain a code, a short description
> and then a long description (up to 2000 characters). This is basically a
> lookup table, and will be used for browsing, verifying and selecting
> codes.
>
> Varchar has a limit of 255 characters. Does this mean I have to define a
> char(2000) column for the long description ?
>
> Any suggestions ?

Upgrade to 9.30 or 9.40 -- use the LVARCHAR data type, which can now be (I
think) up to 32K. Definitely 2K.

[Art S. Kagel]

On Tue, 09 Sep 2003 06:07:50 -0400, Dirk Moolman wrote:

Split the description in to a subsidiary table containing just the key, a
sequence number, and a small CHAR or VARCHAR (say 80 or 100 bytes per record).
If the natural key of the parent table is too long add a SERIAL column in the
parent table and use that as the key to the child table along with the sequence
number. Then you can have as many or as few detail lines as needed with
minimal waste.

Art S. Kagel

> Solaris 8
> IDS 7.31 FD3
>
>
> We have to create a table, that will contain a code, a short description and
> then a long description (up to 2000 characters). This is basically a lookup
> table, and will be used for browsing, verifying and selecting codes.
>
> Varchar has a limit of 255 characters. Does this mean I have to define a
> char(2000) column for the long description ?
>
> Any suggestions ?
>
>
> Regards
> Dirk
>
>
>
> sending to informix-list