(1) There is no problem at all with the change to text type, and the site will be running fine as before, right?
Yes, it's perfectly fine to make the change.
(2) Since I changed the database using phpMyAdmin, when I ran the CB Tools from the backend, as the core xml file was not changed, it reported inconsistencies like being "text" type instead of "varchar". This is expected. I just leave them as such, right?
This is normal. CB field check tool checks field column types. Only way to get rid of this is to adjust the type in cb.core.xml or simply ignore it.
(3) Of course, the easier way should have been changing the core xml file. As you suggested, when CB Tools is run, it will show the incorrect type in the database, and can be fixed. But I couldn't find in which all places the type should be changed into "text". In other words, I really didn't understand what you said exactly. I have attached the core xml file for your review. Would you be kind enough to guide me?
Just fix it for Text and Select type fields as those are the most commonly used so fixing just them 2 should solve your issue. So you'll want to adjust the below for example.
FROM:
Code:
<field type="select" label="Drop Down (Single Select)">
<data name="" nametype="namesuffix" type="sql:varchar(255)" null="true" default="NULL" strict="false" />
TO:
Code:
<field type="select" label="Drop Down (Single Select)">
<data name="" nametype="namesuffix" type="sql:text" null="true" default="NULL" strict="false" />
FROM:
Code:
<field type="text" label="Text Field">
<data name="" nametype="namesuffix" type="sql:varchar(255)" null="true" default="NULL" strict="false" />
TO:
Code:
<field type="text" label="Text Field">
<data name="" nametype="namesuffix" type="sql:text" null="true" default="NULL" strict="false" />
If you have a bunch of Radio, Web Address, or Email fields you may want to adjust them too, but typically the above is all you should need to change.
(4) If the core xml file is changed, will future CB upgrades change the type back to "varchar", as I presume the core xml file will be written over?
Yes, you'll need to apply the change with each new CB release. Shouldn't be too much of a concern as CB 2.0 will have this fixed internally and next 1.x release is a bug fix release so should be only 1 more release where you'd need to apply the fix manually.
(5) Do I have to do this field type change if I am moving to JP hosting with MySQL 5.5? If 'yes,' I will keep the engine as MyISAM itself (the current setting) and change the field type to "text" before moving to JP hosting, and then import the database into JP hosting. Please guide me..
It's a MYSQL limitation so yes it'll happen on JP hosting as well (It'll happen on every host). If you change before moving then it'll stay as what you changed it to and you won't need to do it again.
krileon
