How are large text fields stored in mySQL?

Question

For example, this field I am writing in now can holds a lot of text. I'm assuming this is a mySQL VARCHAR or TEXT field but this is just a guess. According to MySQL: Large VARCHAR vs. TEXT? TEXT should be used. Where is the line for switching from VARHCAR to TEXT. I'm looking for something more concrete then the link I posted.

I of course want to be able to search the text and edit it.

Did you read the accepted answer? Size is **not** the consideration that's identified. Off-the-table vs. in-the-table is the consideration. What part of the accepted answer confuses you? Please **update** the question with specific references to the accepted answer that you find confusing or incomplete. — S.Lott, Jun 08 '11 at 02:45

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 08 '11 at 02:44

2

VARCHAR is limited to 255 characters in all mysql versions <= 5.0.3

There are various sizes of TEXT fields as well, TEXT, MEDIUMTEXT, LONGTEXT.

You can find more details here: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/blob.html

I would strongly suggest defaulting to text or larger for what you're proposing.

answered Jun 08 '11 at 02:44

thinice

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varchar is limited to 64k for more recent versions, limited by rowsize. Row size is limited to 64k, not including any blobs. – Thomas Jones-Low Jun 08 '11 at 03:35

How are large text fields stored in mySQL?

1 Answers1