In the last episode (Jul 09), Michael Ivanyo said:
> I am using MySql with InnoDB and have just discovered that tables
> created using char types show up as varchars when I type, describe
> tableName. Previously, I was using MyIsam tables and did not see
> char types being changed to varchars so I am a bit puzzled.
>
> This is true for almost all of the tables I've created, only a couple
> of tables retained the char type as specified in my create table
> script.
>
> Is this documented behavior? I haven't been using MySql very long
> and haven't seen it mentioned anywhere.
http://www.mysql.com/doc/S/i/Silent_column_changes.html
* If any column in a table has a variable length, the entire row is
variable-length as a result. Therefore, if a table contains any
variable-length columns (VARCHAR, TEXT, or BLOB), all CHAR columns
longer than three characters are changed to VARCHAR columns. This
doesn't affect how you use the columns in any way; in MySQL,
VARCHAR is just a different way to store characters. MySQL performs
this conversion because it saves space and makes table operations
faster. See section 7 MySQL Table Types.
--
Dan Nelson
dnelson@stripped
