I try and explain myself a wee bit better:
I create a table using JDBC in an access database. I use Varchar(10) to specify i want a text field of ten characters
i.e. text(10) as mentioned above. I now, at a different stage of the project, am entering data into the database. I need to know the length of the field so i can validate input on the client side. The reason i am using varchar as this is a kinda cross platform way of saying text. Therefore my code will work using a MySql database. The main point is how do i get the length of the field back. Where else could i post this? I am kinda new to the website