RE: String length of SQl-Statements, creating table

Hi Peter,

A few of those questions are a little off-topic, but some quick answers
anyway:

>> When I create a more complicated table, I get an error, I guess because
>> the SQL-string is too long. Are there any limits?

Yes, but I've never yet seen a CREATE TABLE go over those limits. It's more
likely that you've mixed incompatible statements (like declaring a field as
NOT NULL, DEFAULT NULL or something). Try running your statement in a GUI
tool like MySQL Query Browser and see what you get - or at the worst, use
the built-in Table Editor in MySQL Administrator, create your table, and
note the SQL it runs (it prompts you with the code in a message box).

>> Another point: How can I create and ALTER an existing table, to create
>> the table column after column? Are there any functions to get a list
>> of existing columns?

This is in the manual. Go to http://dev.mysql.com/doc/, select the version
of MySQL server you're running, then search for ALTER TABLE (for your first
question) and SHOW COLUMNS (for your second).

>> The last one: I copied the "CREATE TABLE /*!32300 IF NOT EXISTS*/
>> from some other i-net forum. But I would like to know the meaning of
>> "/*!32300 IF NOT EXISTS*/ ". Any hints here?

The IF NOT EXISTS statement tells the DB not to throw an error or overwrite
an existing table if the table already exists. I think the commenting (/*
blah blah */) means that older versions of the server or other SQL servers
that don't support the IF NOT EXISTS statement don't throw an error when
they see it, but I'm not sure on that one.

Most of those questions are not really MyODBC-specific, so you may be better
off asking them on a different list...

Regards,

Al McNicoll
Integritec Limited


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