Limits for the char(n) data type, where (n) is the numeric character length, are summarized in the following table. The gateway requires the length to be explicitly specified. If length is not specified, it will trigger a gateway syntax error. This differs from the Ingres DBMS, which defaults the length to 1 if it is not specified. For detailed information about individual gateways, see the sections following the table.

Create table statements that include char(n) columns with a length greater than the Microsoft SQL Server maximum are automatically reduced by the gateway to the maximum length. Insert statements for char(n) columns that include data greater than the Microsoft SQL Server maximum are also automatically truncated by the gateway to the maximum length. For example, the following create table statement is changed as shown:

becomes:

ODBC hosts generally impose a maximum length of 254 on char(n) columns. Therefore, ODBC gateway char(n) columns are limited to a maximum length of 254. Because character(n) is mapped to the char(n) data type, this limitation also applies to the character(n) data type.