Mysql – Best database field type for a URL

databaseMySQLsql

I need to store a url in a MySQL table. What's the best practice for defining a field that will hold a URL with an undetermined length?

Best Answer

Lowest common denominator max URL length among popular web browsers: 2,083 (Internet Explorer)

http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/char.html
Values in VARCHAR columns are variable-length strings. The length can be specified as a value from 0 to 255 before MySQL 5.0.3, and 0 to 65,535 in 5.0.3 and later versions. The effective maximum length of a VARCHAR in MySQL 5.0.3 and later is subject to the maximum row size (65,535 bytes, which is shared among all columns) and the character set used.

So ...
< MySQL 5.0.3 use TEXT
or
>= MySQL 5.0.3 use VARCHAR(2083)

Related Solutions

Sql – Insert into … values ( SELECT … FROM … )

Try:

INSERT INTO table1 ( column1 )
SELECT  col1
FROM    table2

This is standard ANSI SQL and should work on any DBMS

It definitely works for:

Oracle
MS SQL Server
MySQL
Postgres
SQLite v3
Teradata
DB2
Sybase
Vertica
HSQLDB
H2
AWS RedShift
SAP HANA
Google Spanner

Mysql – Should I use the datetime or timestamp data type in MySQL

Timestamps in MySQL are generally used to track changes to records, and are often updated every time the record is changed. If you want to store a specific value you should use a datetime field.

If you meant that you want to decide between using a UNIX timestamp or a native MySQL datetime field, go with the native format. You can do calculations within MySQL that way ("SELECT DATE_ADD(my_datetime, INTERVAL 1 DAY)") and it is simple to change the format of the value to a UNIX timestamp ("SELECT UNIX_TIMESTAMP(my_datetime)") when you query the record if you want to operate on it with PHP.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Sql – Insert into … values ( SELECT … FROM … )

Mysql – Should I use the datetime or timestamp data type in MySQL

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