Length of table/column names
Alex Molochnikov
identifiers is 18 characters (apparently, this includes the NULL terminator
as well). Other databases (Sybase, MS SQL Server, Oracle) allow up to 30
characters.
Is the limit of 18 chars a rock-solid barrier, or is there some way (server
settings, environment variables etc.) to extend it? It is such a
straightjacket to cut everything down to 18 chars when the same app must
connect to Sybase and other databases that are more liberal in their
constraints.
We are using INFORMIX-OnLine Dynamic Server for Windows NT 4.00, Version
7.20.TE1.
TIA
Alex Molochnikov
al...@gestalt.com
SaTriGuy
Madison Pruet
Art S. Kagel
>
> The Informix manual states that the maximum length of table and column
> identifiers is 18 characters (apparently, this includes the NULL terminator
> as well). Other databases (Sybase, MS SQL Server, Oracle) allow up to 30
> characters.
>
> Is the limit of 18 chars a rock-solid barrier, or is there some way (server
> settings, environment variables etc.) to extend it? It is such a
> straightjacket to cut everything down to 18 chars when the same app must
> connect to Sybase and other databases that are more liberal in their
> constraints.
There is no null terminator. Anyhow, for now the 18 character limit is
a hard limit. Version 7.31 is supposed to remove that restriction and
allow 256 character identifiers so you can start posting to the other
newsgroups about their names being to restrictive soon ;-)
Art S. Kagel
Chuck Renaud
> There is no null terminator. Anyhow, for now the 18 character limit is a
> hard limit. Version 7.31 is supposed to remove that restriction and allow
> 256 character identifiers so you can start posting to the other newsgroups
> about their names being to restrictive soon ;-)
I wouldn't hold my breath on seeing that limit changed in 7.31...I've
been told it won't be in that release and I haven't seen anything on
it in the beta.
Keep in mind that the current ANSI standard is 18 characters. Not
that I wouldn't like to see that feature myself (though I've heard the
limit is 128 chars in 9.2).
Alex Molochnikov
Chuck Renaud wrote in message <727igf$a06$1...@news.xmission.com>...
>
>Keep in mind that the current ANSI standard is 18 characters. Not
>that I wouldn't like to see that feature myself (though I've heard the
>limit is 128 chars in 9.2).
It depends on what ANSI standard you call "current". This is what "A Guide
to the SQL Standard, Fourth Edition" by C.J.Date has to say about it:
"A regular identifier is a string of no more than 128 characters, of
which the first must be a letter (upper or lower case), while the rest can
be any combination of upper or lower case letters, digits and the underscore
character ("_")... "
This is an authoritative book on SQL 92 standard, published by
Addison-Wesley in 1997 (ISBN 0-201-96426-0). I know that some RDBMS vendors
use this book as a guide for their own development.
However, I am getting somewhat confused about what is the current (or the
next upcoming) release of Informix. Art S. Kagel suggests that version 7.31
is supposed to extend the limit to 256 chars. You are saying it will happen
in 9.2. What's the scoop?
Alex Molochnikov
Chuck Renaud
> It depends on what ANSI standard you call "current". This is what "A Guide
> to the SQL Standard, Fourth Edition" by C.J.Date has to say about it:
SQL 92 does appear to support 128-character identifiers, so I
guess I don't have a good answer to that. I had asked about the 18-
char limit myself when I worked for another company and was told
they're waiting for SQL3 to be adopted. >shrug<
> However, I am getting somewhat confused about what is the current (or the
> next upcoming) release of Informix. Art S. Kagel suggests that version
> 7.31 is supposed to extend the limit to 256 chars. You are saying it will
> happen in 9.2. What's the scoop?
Current version for 7.x is 7.30...7.31 is in beta, I think. From
everything I've heard, it won't support >18-character identifiers. I
haven't heard that feature being promised to anyone either.
I've been told that 9.20 should support 128-character identifiers--
that comes from several sources. It doesn't do it in whatever the
current 9.x release is...9.14 I guess?
Clem Akins
At 05:45 PM 09-11-98 -0700, Alex Molochnikov asks:
[...]
>However, I am getting somewhat confused about what is the current (or the
>next upcoming) release of Informix. Art S. Kagel suggests that version 7.31
>is supposed to extend the limit to 256 chars. You are saying it will happen
>in 9.2. What's the scoop?
The limit for column names will be extended to 128 characters, and the
limit for user names to 32 characters. This is certainly planned for
9.2, and probably planned for 7.31. The product numbering scheme
begins to break down at between 7.30, 7.31, and 9.2 as the code streams
merge between what was ODS and IUS.
It is impossible to say for certain which features will make the final
cut for a given release until very close to the actual release date.
(As anyone who's worked on a really major software project can
understand.)
To know for certain, read the product documentation after the
release date.
_______________________________________________________________
Clem Akins (aka cl...@informix.com) Menlo Park x5937
Customer Course Development Informix Software, Inc
Last seen: Enjoying the snowfall at the top of Yosemite Falls
David Williams
<cl...@informix.com> writes
>
>It is impossible to say for certain which features will make the final
>cut for a given release until very close to the actual release date.
>(As anyone who's worked on a really major software project can
>understand.)
>
>To know for certain, read the product documentation after the
>release date.
>
Agreed, check the 7.30.uc3-1 release notes for the list of features
which did NOT make it into that release!!!
First time I saw a product list what it did not include!!
Sounds like the iiug announcement meant that they had to state
some things did not make the release (e.g. was it floating threads/
sporadic connections??, something like that??)..
>_______________________________________________________________
>Clem Akins (aka cl...@informix.com) Menlo Park x5937
>Customer Course Development Informix Software, Inc
>Last seen: Enjoying the snowfall at the top of Yosemite Falls
--
David Williams
Maintainer of the Informix FAQ
Primary site (Beta Version) http://www.smooth1.demon.co.uk
Official site http://www.iiug.org/techinfo/faq/faq_top.html
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