Re: VARCHAR data type, what impacts on performance?

Posted in 1992

Jim Gordon — Fri, 7 Aug 92 9:00:36 PDT — source: Informix-list mailing list archive (1991-1998)

> We are using Informix On-line 4.1 on an HP9000/855. On the surface, > it seems that the VARCHAR data type, if used correctly, can minimize > wasted space without negatively impacting performance. Given the > following situation, will I be making a mistake by converting certain > columns of a table to VARCHAR? > > --Glen No mistake. Do it. About the only problem with VARCHAR is when you keep adding to the contents. This fragments the row across many pages and hurts performance. Cheers - Jim