MySQL Data Type Names

[abc123ben]

Hello,

I'm currently learning PHP & MySQL from a PHP & MySQL book, and I'm currently learning about MySQL data type names. I'm a bit confused about a particular bit in this section.

ENUM ("val1" , "val2") - What is this data type used for?

Is it something to do with a PHP value? Like this is a variable and value $something = "something" and "something" is the value? And so ENUM ("something") would store the value in the database?

If someone could help, it would be appreciated .

Thanks.

 

[Kate]

Simply put the ENUM type is used for columns which are to hold only a restricted set of known values. Example:
You can set a column to ENUM('Y','N') for storying yes/no responses (this is used by mySQL itself in its system tables). It means values other than Y or N will not be allowed in that field.

 

[abc123ben]

Thank you. That cleared things up .

 

[Kate]

Don't forget to check the manual. It's very useful

http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/enum.html
This is for version 5.0, if you are using an older version check the appropriate manual as some features are not there

 

[abc123ben]

Will do. Thanks .