Re: V7 VARCHAR2/CHAR usage

In article: <9503140247.aa00900_at_punt.demon.co.uk> jimc_at_sun4.miti.com writes:
>
> For most of our work here, we simple continue to use the VARCHAR2
> datatype. This is because most of our data is of the variable type
> and the limited amount that is not is not significant enough to use
> the CHAR type and then have to deal with comparison rules that you had
> mentioned.
>
> One potential problem could involve records that are created
> initially with blank fields or entries that will grow considerably in
> the future. Using VARCHAR2 would not allocate space and when updates
> happen at a future time, the rows would then grow, possibly causing
> row chaining. This of course could be eliminated by padding a variable

        THIS IS NOT ROW CHAINING.         THIS IS ROW MIGRATION.         It is important to note the difference because you can reduce row and thus reduce I/O but you cannot do anything about chaining.

---

        Tim London                      phone : +44 753 662393
        Oracle DBA,Trainer and          mobile: +44 836 287064
        part time OU tutor              Email : tim_at_artemis.demon.co.uk