I thought you could set varchar as varchar(min,max), but I must have mistaken. What's the syntax to set a min and max? Or do I have to use PHP to do that?
Update: Let me add more context. I'm making a field for usernames, so I thought I could set the minimum and maximum for varchar in MySQL. Seems I can only set the length which is 0 to 255. I'm guessing this means I have to use PHP to add the minimum restriction
better to do it in php, mysql would require some triggers to do the constraints.
You cannot set a minimum length for a VARCHAR field in MySQL. Despite jspcal's answer, there is no such min length constraint.
The max is simply VARCHAR(max)
Yes, you must use PHP to limit the length. Personally, I use application code to perform all my constraint validations, and only rely on the DB as a last resort/failsafe.
It's better to detect invalid data in your application and return a useful error message, than to catch a DB exception and have to interpret/translate that into the appropriate error message.