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I know it might sound silly, I have to look up MySQL manual reference and another MySQL forum. as I could not find what is right datatype for numbers with '-' e.g

'405-6444235-1711500'

I'm not sure this number datatype like TINYINT, SMALLINT, MEDIUMINT INT and BIGINT will not working on this. I'm not sure if varchar is a right choice for this.

So Any Suggest what is the right choice for this before I build a new table and Data await to upload it.

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    yes, This "part" will be used together as not separate. this function might be useful for data record in some stage later but not now
    – Steven Smith
    Feb 9, 2018 at 16:30

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With hyphens, it's a string, full stop!

You could store it as a BIGINT (without the hyphens) and format it using the hyphens on the client side - putting hyphens at 4 and 12.

However, if the position of the hyphens varies, you'll have to store it as a string and not any form of number.

You should only store values as numbers if you're going to add/subtract/multiply or divide them - otherwise, they are strings and not "numbers" anyway! How do you perform mathematical operations with "numbers" which have hyphens?

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  • Thanks for your help, I was not sure what it called, it was hyphens.
    – Steven Smith
    Feb 9, 2018 at 14:38
  • Can also be called "dashes" - depending on where you're from - "dash" might be more North American.
    – Vérace
    Feb 9, 2018 at 14:53
  • Yes, I was going said dash but I am not sure if it's correct one! so i decided to put '-' rather than dashes
    – Steven Smith
    Feb 9, 2018 at 15:23
  • Here's a deadly image which illustrates the point about mathematical operations :-)
    – Vérace
    Feb 9, 2018 at 15:28

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