the limit's found in BOL, but its basically
select POWER(convert(bigint,2),31) -1
so a Varchar(max) stores a maximum of 2 147 483 647 characters.
Lowell
--
help us help you! If you post a question, make sure you include a CREATE TABLE... statement and INSERT INTO... statement into that table to give the volunteers here representative data. with your description of the problem, we can provide a tested, verifiable solution to your question! asking the question the right way gets you a tested answer the fastest way possible!