Varchar Vs Text in MSSQL

[Arc]

What are the advantages/disadvantages of using Varchar vs Text? I know varchar is limited to 255 chars... but why not just always use text? Can text hold all types of chars?

[tomhath]

The 255 character limit was removed in SQLServer 7.0.

Here's the answer to your original question:

http://www.databasejournal.com/features/mssql/article.php/1439081

By the way, to find this I went to Google and searched for "sql server varchar text efficient". This site was at the top of the list. Took all of about 12 seconds to find the answer...

[Arc]

well that's great that you found that.. however it does nothing to answer my specific question. I have done searches on the internet. I had hoped i would get a more specific answer from someone around here instead of the typical...go search on google answer.

[_0_05_]

the advantage of using text in mssql is that it can hold significantly more characters than varchar. If you notice, (at least in my version of mssql) that the largest value you can have in a text field is like 50, thats in bytes, not characters. The disadvantage to using this, is processing time, and power. So if you are just storing email addresses, use varchar, if you are storing news articles, use text.

[Arc]

Ok cool, i just wasnt sure if there was some limit on the kinds of characters you put in a text field...you know special chars like ~ or ê etc...

[_0_05_]

nope, none that i know of at least