nvarchar & varchar

Hi,

I am new to MS SQL. When I create a column in a table, when shall I
use nvarchar or varchar? Please help.

Thanks,
MikeThe nvarchar data type provides support for Unicode characters. This is
needed if you are building an international system that must store different
languages. However, if you have no need to store Unicode characters then you
are better using varchar. The nvarchar data type occupies twice the space of
varchar as it uses 2 bytes to encode each character.

HTH,

Plamen Ratchev
http://www.SQLStudio.com|||On 26 Feb, 15:13, "Plamen Ratchev" <Pla...@.SQLStudio.comwrote:

Quote:

Originally Posted by

The nvarchar data type provides support for Unicode characters. This is
needed if you are building an international system that must store different
languages. However, if you have no need to store Unicode characters then you
are better using varchar. The nvarchar data type occupies twice the space of
varchar as it uses 2 bytes to encode each character.
>
HTH,
>
Plamen Ratchevhttp://www.SQLStudio.com

varchar will support a lot of characters from different languages
though (depending on the collation codepage) so no need to rush into
doubling your storage if you dont "really" need to|||On Feb 26, 10:26 am, "oliver" <oraus...@.hotmail.comwrote:

Quote:

Originally Posted by

On 26 Feb, 15:13, "Plamen Ratchev" <Pla...@.SQLStudio.comwrote:
>

Quote:

Originally Posted by

The nvarchar data type provides support for Unicode characters. This is
needed if you are building an international system that must store different
languages. However, if you have no need to store Unicode characters then you
are better using varchar. The nvarchar data type occupies twice the space of
varchar as it uses 2 bytes to encode each character.

>

Quote:

Originally Posted by

HTH,

>

Quote:

Originally Posted by

Plamen Ratchevhttp://www.SQLStudio.com

>
varchar will support a lot of characters from different languages
though (depending on the collation codepage) so no need to rush into
doubling your storage if you dont "really" need to

Plamen, Oliver Thanks a lot!

Mike|||On Feb 26, 9:47 am, haid...@.gmail.com wrote:

Quote:

Originally Posted by

Hi,
>
I am new to MS SQL. When I create a column in a table, when shall I
use nvarchar or varchar? Please help.
>
Thanks,
Mike

Mike,

Clearly you need to go back to reading the manual or get a Dummy's
book if you don't know the difference between unicode and ascii
strings.

HTH,

Carl Tegeder
Master MS-SQL Administrator|||Carl Tegeder wrote:

Quote:

Originally Posted by

Quote:

Originally Posted by

>I am new to MS SQL. When I create a column in a table, when shall I
>use nvarchar or varchar? Please help.

Quote:

Originally Posted by

Clearly you need to go back to reading the manual or get a Dummy's
book if you don't know the difference between unicode and ascii
strings.

Not the most tactful of responses, but hey.

To the original poster: Google and Wikipedia are your friends.