Re: Field length ??

Markus Schaber <schabi@logix-tt.com> writes:
> Frank Bax wrote:
>> Except that the original fields were neither variable length datatypes,
>> not type text.

> char is a textual type (in opposite to numeric types), and they are
> handled as variable length datatypes internally (even if given a limit).

char(n) *is* a variable-length type, not merely "handled as such",
because the limit N is measured in characters not bytes.  To support
variable-length encodings such as UTF8 we have to treat it as variable
length.
        regards, tom lane