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Asked: 2026-05-10T21:58:47+00:00

In SQL server 2005 this query select len(cast(‘the quick brown fox jumped over the

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In SQL server 2005 this query

select len(cast('the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog' as varchar))

returns 30 as length while the supplied string has more characters. This seems to be the default. Why 30, and not 32 or any other power of 2?

[EDIT] I am aware that I should always specifiy the length when casting to varchar but this was a quick let’s-check-something query. Questions remains, why 30?

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1 Answer

  1. Why don’t you specify the varchar length? ie:

    SELECT CAST('the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog' AS VARCHAR(45))

    As far as why 30, that’s the default length in SQL Server for that type.

    From char and varchar (Transact-SQL):

    When n is not specified in a data definition or variable declaration statement, the default length is 1. When n is not specified when using the CAST and CONVERT functions, the default length is 30.

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