asked on SQL Server varchar best practices
I have a database table, sql server 2016, that is where we will save our dynamic content.
Fields are:
nvarchar(300)
nvarchar(1000)
nvarchar(max)
since they are varchar, does it really matter if they are empty or full? if empty they won't take up anymore space than if it weren't in the table at all will it?
Reason I ask is, the nvarcchar(max) won't be used as often as the others, and I thought about putting it in a separate table with a relation. But if having it in there empty doesn't add any extra space, I'd prefer doing that.
Thanks!
Fields are:
nvarchar(300)
nvarchar(1000)
nvarchar(max)
since they are varchar, does it really matter if they are empty or full? if empty they won't take up anymore space than if it weren't in the table at all will it?
Reason I ask is, the nvarcchar(max) won't be used as often as the others, and I thought about putting it in a separate table with a relation. But if having it in there empty doesn't add any extra space, I'd prefer doing that.
Thanks!
DatabasesMicrosoft SQL ServerSQL
Last Comment
Dale Fye
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ASKER
I guess what I'm hearing here is, Yes, put the field in a separate table because if it's empty, it will still take up space. But if it doesn't exist in the other table, it will take up no space.
I would use a left outer join to see if there's data in it.
Does that sound best and what you're trying to tell me?
I would use a left outer join to see if there's data in it.
Does that sound best and what you're trying to tell me?
I'm not a SQL Server expert, so don't take my reply as gospel, but I've been using this technique (splitting memo / nvarchar(Max) fields off into their own tables) for many years. It always seemed to make more sense to explicitly do so.
Hmm... wonder if this is a truly excellent idea as far as execution speed. My company stores a lot of API call request/responses as xml, so some of the requests can be {expletives deleted} huge. Again, it's worth a test to find out.