Varchar: When a limit is unlimited

How much do you know about 'varchar' type in DB2?

I thought I knew, until I ran a little test and got a nasty surprise.

Here's a simple test case to illustrate:


db2 => create table smallt ( c1 varchar(1));
DB20000I  The SQL command completed successfully.

db2 => insert into smallt values('B             ') ;
DB20000I  The SQL command completed successfully.


db2 => select * from smallt ;

C1
--
B

  1 record(s) selected.



See the 'problem'?


This behaviour can be very disturbing for those used to Oracle DB. Another potential 'hidden' bug for Oracle developer doing DB2.