Bluehost Web Hosting Help

MySQL Var Types

MySQL Variable Types

In a MySQL database, there are three (3) main data types: text, numbers and dates/times.  When you design your database, it is important that you select the appropriate type, since this determines why type of data you can store in that column.  Using the most appropriate type can also increase the database's overall performance.

Text Types

CHAR( ) A fixed section from 0 to 255 characters long.
VARCHAR( ) A variable section from 0 to 255 characters long.
TINYTEXT A string with a maximum length of 255 characters.
TEXT A string with a maximum length of 65535 characters.
BLOB A string with a maximum length of 65535 characters.
MEDIUMTEXT A string with a maximum length of 16777215 characters.
MEDIUMBLOB A string with a maximum length of 16777215 characters.
LONGTEXT A string with a maximum length of 4294967295 characters.
LONGBLOB A string with a maximum length of 4294967295 characters.

The ( ) brackets allow you to specify the maximum  number of characters that can be used in the column.

BLOB stands for Binary Large OBject, and can be used to store non-text information that is encoded into text.

Number Types

TINYINT ( ) -128 to 127 normal 0 to 255 UNSIGNED
SMALLINT( ) -32768 to 32767 normal 0 to 65535 UNSIGNED
MEDIUMINT( ) -8388608 to 8388607 normal 0 to 16777215 UNSIGNED
INT( ) -2147483648 to 2147483647 normal 0 to 4294967295 UNSIGNED
BIGINT( ) -9223372036854775808 to 9223372036854775807 normal 0 to 18446744073709551615 UNSIGNED
FLOAT A small number with a floating decimal point.
DOUBLE( , ) A large number with a floating decimal point.
DECIMAL( , ) A DOUBLE stored as a string, allowing for a fixed decimal point.

By default, the integer types will allow a range between a negative number and a positive number, as indicated in the table above.  You can use the UNSIGNED commend, which will instead only allow positive numbers, which start at 0 and count up.

Date/Time Types

DATE YYYY-MM-DD
DATETIME YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS
TIMESTAMP YYYYMMDDHHMMSS
TIME HH:MM:SS
YEAR YYYY

Date/Time fields will only accept a valid date or time.

Knowledgebase Article 87,993 views bookmark
share
Share or save this via:
tags: mysql


Was this resource helpful?
Helpful Unhelpful


Did this resolve your issue?
Solved Unsolved


Please add any other comments or suggestions about this content:





Recommended Help Content

How to Add Tables to a DB in PhpMyAdmin

Guidance on adding tables to your mySQL database in phpMyAdmin

Create Custom MIME Types

This article will explain how to create MIME types.

Setting a Password for the Main MySQL User

I am prompted to set a new MySQL password. What does this mean and how do I change it?

Related Help Content

MySQL Error Messages

This article will show a few MySQL errors along with explanations as to why they might be occurring.

Change a MySQL Users Password

This article will explain how to change or reset the password for a MySQL user.

Connecting to your MySQL DB from Dreamweaver

How can I connect to our MySQL database from Dreamweaver?

Optimizing MySQL: Queries and Indexes Article 3 of 4

Optimizing MySQL: Queries and Indexes Article 3 of 4 Courtesy of: Ian Gilfillan Ordering by surname is a common requirement, so it would make sense to create an index on surname. But in this example o

How to Create and Delete MySQL Databases and Users

This article will explain MySQL database and user creation and deletion, and explain how to assign a user to a database.

Connecting Scripts to MySQL Databases

This article will explain how to connect your scripts to your MySQL databases.

MySQL Database Access Outside of cPanel

How do I grant permissions to cPanel for my MySQL database administrator without giving them the domain password?

MySQL Database Compatibility

How do I make my MySQL database compatible with the version you provide?