Can you set the field size property for a field with a short text data type?

TEXT data objects, as their namesake implies, are useful for storing long-form text strings in a MySQL database. The four TEXT data object types are built for storing and displaying substantial amounts of information as opposed to other data object types that are helpful with tasks like sorting and searching columns or handling smaller configuration-based options for a larger project. The different TEXT objects offer a range of storage space from 1 byte to 4 GB and are not designed for storing computational values. It’s common to see these used to store product descriptions for a sales site, property summaries for realty database, and long-form article text on a news website. TEXT objects are best used when VARCHAR and other string-based data objects are insufficient to handle storing the desired amount of information. However, the smallest TEXT type, TINYTEXT, shares the same character length as VARCHAR. TEXT objects differentiate themselves from other string storage types by removing the requirement to specify a storage length, not stripping bytes when selected, and do not pad unused character space for efficient disk storage. Since TEXT objects are not stored in the server’s memory, they require data overhead for retrieval. The following sizes assume the database is using the UTF-8 encoding.

TINYTEXT: 255 characters - 255 B

The TINYTEXT data object is the smallest of the TEXT family and is built to efficiently store short information strings. This type can store up to 255 bytes (expressed as 2^8 -1) or 255 characters and requires a 1 byte overhead. This object can be used to store things like short summaries, URL links, and other shorter objects. TINYTEXT shines over VARCHAR when storing data that’s under 255 characters with an inconsistent length and no need to be used for sorting criteria.

TEXT: 65,535 characters - 64 KB

The standard TEXT data object is sufficiently capable of handling typical long-form text content. TEXT data objects top out at 64 KB (expressed as 2^16 -1) or 65,535 characters and requires a 2 byte overhead. It is sufficiently large enough to hold text for something like an article, but would not be sufficient for holding the text of an entire book.

MEDIUMTEXT: 16,777,215 - 16 MB

The TEXT6 data object is useful for storing larger text strings like white papers, books, and code backup. These data objects can be as large as 16 MB (expressed as 2^24 -1) or 16,777,215 characters and require 3 bytes of overhead storage.

LONGTEXT: 4,294,967,295 characters - 4 GB

The TEXT7 data object is for use in extreme text string storage use cases. It is a viable option when the TEXT6 object is not big enough. Computer programs and applications often reach text lengths in the TEXT7 range. These data objects can be as large as 4 GB (expressed as 2^32 -1) and store up to 4,294,967,295 characters with 4 bytes of overhead storage,

TEXT vs. BLOB

TEXT0s are an alternative type of data storage that share matching naming and capacity mechanisms with TEXT objects. However, TEXT0s are binary strings with no character set sorting, so they are treated as numeric values while TEXT objects are treated as character strings. This differentiation is important for sorting information. TEXT0s are used to store data files like images, videos, and executables.

Microsoft Access database fields are created by entering a field name and a field data type in each row of the field entry area of the database table window. The field description is an option to identify the fields purpose; it appears in the status bar during data entry. After you enter each field's name and data type, you can specify how each field is used by entering properties in the property area. Before you enter any properties, however, you should enter all of you fields names and data types.

Naming a Database Field

A field name identifies the field to both you and to Microsoft Access. For information regarding field names please see the article: Tables and Fields

Specifying a Microsoft Access Data Type

After you name a field, you must decide what type of data the field will hold. Before you begin entering data, you should have a grasp of the data types that your system will use. Ten basic data types are shown in the table below; some data types (such as numbers) have several options:

1, 2, 4, or 8 bytes. 16 bytes for Replication ID (GUID) only.

For numeric data types, the field size enables you to further define the type of number, which in turn determines the storage size. The table below shows the seven possible settings in the Numeric Field Size property.

You should make the field size the smallest one possible; Access runs faster with smaller field sizes. Note the first three settings don’t use decimal points, but allow increasingly larger positive or negative numbers. Single and Double permit even larger numbers: Single gives you 7 decimal places, and Double allows 15. Use the Double setting when you need many decimal places or very large numbers.

Caution: If you convert a large FieldSize setting to a smaller one in a field that already contains data, you might lose data. For example, if you change the FieldSize setting for a Text data type field from 255 to 50, data beyond the new 50-character setting will be discarded.

If the data in a Number data type field doesn't fit in a new FieldSize setting, fractional numbers may be rounded or you might get a Null value. For example, if you change from a Single to an Integer field size, fractional values will be rounded to the nearest whole number and values greater than 32,767 or less than –32,768 will result in null fields.

Tip: You can use the Currency data type if you plan to perform many calculations on a field that contains data with one to four decimal places. Single and Double data type fields require floating-point calculation. Currency data type fields use a faster fixed-point calculation.

Can you modify the field size property of a short text field?

Is the field size of data type short text?

What is the field size for a field with a data type of text?

What is the default value for the field size property for short text data type?