PostgreSQL Data Types - VARCHAR

Versions: PostgreSQL 8.x and 7.x

PostgreSQL - VARCHAR
Syntax	VARCHAR[(n)]
Data	Variable-length character data, single-byte and multibyte character sets
Parameters	n is the maximum number of characters, optional
Range	1 ⇐ n ⇐ 1G
Default	n is 1G
Padding	Not right-padded with spaces to n
Trailing Spaces	Not removed when the value is stored and retrieved. Trailing spaces are significant in comparison.
Character Set	Database default
Error Handling	Exceeding data truncated to the maximum length if the excess characters are all spaces, otherwise an error is raised. Casting to a shorter length truncates the value without raising an error.
Storage Size	actual entry length
Synonyms	CHARACTER VARYING
Standards	ANSI SQL

PostgreSQL VARCHAR - Equivalents in Other Databases

Database	Data Type and Conversion
Oracle	VARCHAR2(n), 1 ⇐ n ⇐ 4000/charsize; NVARCHAR2(n), 1 ⇐ n ⇐ 4000/charsize, Unicode - UTF-8 or UTF-16
SQL Server	VARCHAR(n \| max), 1 ⇐ n ⇐ 8000, 2G if max is specified
MySQL	VARCHAR(n), 1 ⇐ n ⇐ 65535/charsize; NVARCHAR(n), 1 ⇐ n ⇐ 21845, Unicode - UTF-8
Sybase ASE	VARCHAR(n), 1 ⇐ n ⇐ pagesize (2K, 4K, 8K or 16K); NVARCHAR(n), 1 ⇐ n ⇐ pagesize/@@ncharsize; UNIVARCHAR(n), 1 ⇐ n ⇐ pagesize/@@unicharsize, Unicode
Informix	VARCHAR(n,r), 1 ⇐ n ⇐ 255, LVARCHAR(n), 1 ⇐ n ⇐ 32739, TEXT, 2G, CLOB, 4T
HP Neoview	VARCHAR(n), 1 ⇐ n ⇐ (32708 - size of other columns)
Ingres	VARCHAR(n), 1 ⇐ n ⇐ 32000; NVARCHAR(n), 1 ⇐ n ⇐ 16000, Unicode - UTF-8; TEXT(n), 1 ⇐ n ⇐ 32000

Related Data Types in PostgreSQL

Data Types
Fixed-length character data	CHAR(n)
Variable-length character data	TEXT

All Data Types

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SQL Server

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Sybase ASA

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Ingres