FULLTEXT vs INDEX, Which is better?

[HoboTraveler]

Hi All,

I have two fields in the database. Number of records ~600,000.

Titles - varchar (255)
Filenames - varchar (255)

I have INDEX's on both fields. Since I search these fields with LIKE, is it ok if I add the FULLTEXT indexes on both these fields? Does the FULLTEXT index enable better performance as compared to INDEX?

Is it ok to enable both INDEX and FULLTEXT on the same field?

TIA

[HoboTraveler]

*bump* .. Anyone?

[zCat]

(Assuming this is MySQL)

LIKE will be efficient with the normal index if you are searching on the start of the string (e.g. WHERE filename LIKE 'foo%'). LIKE does not operate on a FULLTEXT index though; you'll need MATCH for that (rftm for details ;-).