Re: VARCHAR2 vs. CHAR

From: <vermaat_at_gemini.tfdl.agro.nl>
Date: 1996/11/22
Message-ID: <1996Nov22.094236.602_at_ns2>#1/1

In article <32948023.1CFB_at_econnect.ca>, Yudong Sun <ysun_at_econnect.ca> writes:
>How efficient is VARCHAR2's implementation?
>Would I have a reason to prefer the use of CHAR for things like
>a person name (e.g., CHAR(50))? (I would use VARCHAR2 for things
>like file path - e.g. VARCHAR2(256).)

The problem with CHAR-columns is that they are always filled up with spaces to their full length, so that they claim more space. If you insert JONES in VARCHAR2(10), you get JONES ; if you insert it into CHAR(10), you get JONES_____. These values are NOT equal !

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| Peter J.R. Vermaat | Dutch Department of Agriculture | Wageningen |

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| p.j.r.vermaat_at_fd.agro.nl | http://www.agro.nl/~vermaat/ |

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|                           Flagellant in Dreamland                            |
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Received on Fri Nov 22 1996 - 00:00:00 CET