Hi Caroline,
> Hi, I have several simple questions regarding creating
> tables in the MySQL.
>
> 1. For a variable of Java primitive int type, I should
> use INT or INTEGER? Do I have to specify the length of
> the field?
> CREATE TABLE message_thread( thread_id INT or INTEGER
> NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY);
There's no difference in INT or INTEGER - see
http://www.mysql.com/doc/en/Column_types.html
> 2. A field in my table is for storing articles.
> Articles could be very long in variable length. I
> should use VARCHAR or TEXT? What about the length of
> the field?
VARCHAR has a maximum length of 255 characters, although I
think this is increased in a later MySQL version. If you want to
store "unlimited" amounts of text, use a blob (or blob like) column
type, eg: MEDIUMTEXT or LONGTEXT
See http://www.mysql.com/doc/en/Column_types.html for details.
> 3. For a variable of the Timestamp type, do I specify
> CREATE TABLE message_thread( thread_creation_date
> TIMESTAMP NOT NULL );
> What about the length of the field?
To store date/time values, use the DATETIME type. See
http://www.mysql.com/doc/en/DATETIME.html
With regards,
Martijn Tonies
Database Workbench - developer tool for InterBase, Firebird, MySQL & MS SQL
Server.
Upscene Productions
http://www.upscene.com
