What MySQL cell types should I use to for names, ips and emails?

TINYTEXT? or maybe CHARVAR?

[Jeremy_H]

I would like to store several values into a MySQL table, and I'm wondering how best to do it.

Right now I have the following stored as "TINYTEXT":
An IP Address
A Name
An Email Address

This seems wasteful, but I tried creating them as CHAR but it requires I put in a length. Once I put in a length, then it changes it to CHARVAR. I'm hesitant to set them as CHARVAR since they can be of any length.

Should I look to store them as something else?

Thanks for any help.

[topr8]

if you use CHAR ensure you trim the data when you call it as the "empty" space will still be included in the return.

i generally use VARCHAR

if you are searching on those fields technically a CHAR will be found quicker, but a VARCHAR will take less space, you need to choose between teh two.

[lbft]

There's little speed difference between accessing char and varchar columns in any reasonably modern database, so I wouldn't be too concerned about that.

MySQL will let you specify an upper limit on the length of a varchar column, although there's also an implicit limit (255 bytes in versions older than 5.0.3, or up to 65,532 bytes in 5.0.3 or later.)