> ? Alright fixed length character fields may be a bit long in the tooth,
> but they do still have a place. Yes they can be defined as varchar, but
> that hides the fact that they are always full length, and I would expect
> them to be packed to full length when output?

I don't know what "output" you have in mind, but on disk CHAR and
VARCHAR are stored the same way - in full length, RLE compressed.
The topic starter obviously need VARCHAR, because he wants to look
for string by it's last character ('A') and ignores the fact, that
"half-filled" CHARs have space at it's last character. That's OK, I also
was ignorant years ago and chose CHARs without strong reason.

SY, SD.