The varchar data type consists of up to n characters in the ASCII extended set or blanks; n represents the lesser of the maximum configured row size and 32,000. All ASCII characters are permitted, including non‑printable control characters, such as the NULL character. A varchar column is defined as varchar(n) where n is the maximum number of characters stored in the column. Between text and varchar, the varchar data type is preferred as it is compatible with ANSI SQL.