[RESOLVED] int or char

[ade234uk]

I am finding out database construction is becoming more important. I am putting together a small database that has a lot of yes and no answers to it so I thought instead of entering Yes and No I could just 1 & 0

So what should I use

int(1) 1 = Yes 0 = No

Then I thought about using char

char 1 = Yes 0 = No

I looked at another database and I saw a field called

enum('Yes', 'No')

[MarkR]

I normally use INT, TINYINT or BIT (depending on what the database supports).

CHAR is useful for things like status fields which can have more than two values.

Mark

[NogDog]

Another alternative would be to define it as ENUM('yes','no'). This would have the same per-row storage requirement as TINYINT (1 byte), and has the added advantage that the only values you'll be able to enter are 'yes' and 'no' (or NULL if you allow nulls for that field).

[ade234uk]

Thank you for all your help. In the old days I would have entered Yes or No in the database. Some of my very early designs where bloody shocking and I dont know how I got away with it.

I will take your advice on board.

Thank you again for your help.