The maximum capacity for Varchar / Varbinary in SQL Server 7 and 2000 are 8,000 bytes. Similarly for nvarchar it is 4,000 bytes. For any content which is more than 8000 bytes we would go for "Text, NText, or Image" data types. In SQL Server 2005 it has changed greatly with the introduction of the "Max" specifier. The Max specifier allows storage of up to 2^31 bytes of data. For Unicode content it allows storage of up to 2^30 bytes. When you use the Varchar(Max) or NVarchar(Max) data type, the data is stored as character strings, whereas for Varbinary(Max) it is stored as bytes. Basic example showing the usage of this new specifier. Create table PatientDetails ( PatientNumber int Identity, FirstName varchar(max), LastName varchar(max), Memo varchar(max) ) In earlier version of SQL Server we cannot use Text, ntext or image data types as variables / parameters in stored procedure or user defined funtions. But that is perfectly valid in Yukon. Passing character data as
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