>IMHO, using char type makes sense only when you know that all 74 characters are always populated. Say, it makes sense to have Char(2) for State field or Char(1) for some type field.

...and, they are

>UNION performs distinct and therefore certain types can not be used with UNION. (You'll get the same error if you try to use UNION and memo fields).
>
>UNION ALL doesn't perform DISTINCT operation and therefore we can use it even with TEXT type in SQL Server or Memo field in VFP.

Thanks