Hi Ivan,

> The rules are really simple
>
> * NULLs and BLOBs can't be stored in external tables.
> * everything is stored as fixed length values.
>
> That's all !
>
> E.g.
> INTEGER = 4 bytes
> SMALLINT = 2 bytes
> TIMESTAMP = 2 integers = 8 bytes
> CHAR(10) = 10 bytes
> VARCHAR(10) = 2+10 = 12 bytes
>
> Fixed length means that even single character
> stored in VARCHAR(10) will still require 12 bytes
> (for single byte character sets).

What about UNICODE, is that supported with
External Files?

Just curious ;-)

With regards,

Martijn Tonies
Database Workbench - developer tool for InterBase, Firebird, MySQL & MS SQL
Server.
Upscene Productions
http://www.upscene.com