Inconsistent result set.

Hi All
What does it mean if i have a result set that comes as < long text>? I have
a table with a column of data type txt and size 16. When i try to get data
from that colomun, either i get the data or i get the result set as <long
text>. What is causing this inconsistency in my result set? Thanx in advance
.Enterprise Manager will not display large pieces of text stored in a text or
ntext column.
If you need to see more of the text values use Query Analyzer. But mind the
fact, that by default QA only displays up to 256 characters, so you'd need t
o
change that to suit your needs. Go to Tools | Options | Results and set
"Maximum characters per column" to a value of your choice (between 30 and
8192).
Or, better yet, manipulate long text in an appropriate client application.
Above all, get out of Enterprise Manager. ;)
ML|||Thanx for the reply,but still why is it at times i get the right result set.
I should be getting the '<long text>' all the time i run my query from what
you are saying. Also i have been doing this in QA. Thanx once again.
"ML" wrote:

> Enterprise Manager will not display large pieces of text stored in a text
or
> ntext column.
> If you need to see more of the text values use Query Analyzer. But mind th
e
> fact, that by default QA only displays up to 256 characters, so you'd need
to
> change that to suit your needs. Go to Tools | Options | Results and set
> "Maximum characters per column" to a value of your choice (between 30 and
> 8192).
> Or, better yet, manipulate long text in an appropriate client application.
> Above all, get out of Enterprise Manager. ;)
>
> ML|||I honestly do not know the exact limit used to display either actual
text/ntext or a generic <long text> message in Enterprise Manager, since I
really don't use it often. :)
But I have noticed that the limit may not be a fixed value. I think it
depends on the size of the active result set, but I'm not sure. Maybe someon
e
else knows. Anyway, since large text and/or images for that matter only mean
anything when displayed and manipulated in an appropriate client application
,
the ratio behind the "EM fun" is irrelevant. At least IMHO.
ML