Re: A modest proposal for a FAQ addition

From: Tom Lane <tgl(at)sss(dot)pgh(dot)pa(dot)us>
To: Ian Barwick <barwick(at)gmx(dot)net>
Cc: Bruce Momjian <pgman(at)candle(dot)pha(dot)pa(dot)us>, Peter Eisentraut <peter_e(at)gmx(dot)net>, pgsql-hackers(at)postgresql(dot)org
Subject: Re: A modest proposal for a FAQ addition
Date: 2003-01-12 18:15:08
Message-ID: 28768.1042395308@sss.pgh.pa.us
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Ian Barwick <barwick(at)gmx(dot)net> writes:
> On Sunday 12 January 2003 17:55, Bruce Momjian wrote:
>> I can't say "don't use CHAR(n)" because there are valid reasons to use
>> it.

> I think what Tom is saying is "always use VARCHAR(n) unless you know
> for sure CHAR(n) is what you want, because if you slept through that part of
> the SQL course CHAR(n) is not what you might think."

Yes. It is not clear from either the FAQ or the documentation that
CHAR() should not be one's default choice for a character field.

regards, tom lane

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