> What is 'binary' in column type stand for? > is it describe how the data is stored (in biner value)? > what do we want use it for? > - encryption ? > - space efficiency ? > - fast index ? > - or ....?
AFAIK it's used for determining the behaviour while comparing values (operators, sorting, etc.). Normally 'Garçon' (4th character is c-cedille) and 'garcon' are seen as identical strings if the language collation settings are set accordingly. Characters with accents are used in many languages depending on various circumstances (compound words, plural/singular forms, etc.); so can come in handy to take this into consideration while handling the data. Also upper/lower case is ignored by default (since the letter case is often depending upon the context in which the word is used). You can use BINARY in a column type to indicate that sorting, indexing and comparing should always be done without taking the above into consideration; comparing is thus done as if it were binary data: byte by byte. You can use BINARY in an operation to indicate that this case needs to be handled as binary data. I've used it in one table where I wanted each record to be case/accent-dependent unique. Now MySQL considered 'WiNTer' as different from 'winter', etc. Regards, Jigal. -- MySQL General Mailing List For list archives: http://lists.mysql.com/mysql To unsubscribe: http://lists.mysql.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]
