What is the next best thing after VARCHAR(255)
mysql
Solution
Starting with MySQL 5.0.3, you can simply use `VARCHAR(500)`.
M represents the maximum column length in characters. In MySQL 5.0, the range of M is 0 to 255 before MySQL 5.0.3, and 0 to 65,535 in MySQL 5.0.3 and later.
Problem
I have a table with about 2 million records in it. I have a field called message which is setup as varchar(160) and I need something bigger that varchar(255) because I need to be able to store about 500 characters in it, what is the next best datatype to use without increasing the size of the db drastically? thanks