Manually changing the custom_dimension_X fields to be unlimited length column (TEXT type) instead of VARCHAR 255? #16150

Currently custom dimension values are limited to 255 characters, but in some cases we want to track more than 255 characters in a custom dimension.

Currently, if trying to issue a request with a dimension value longer than 255 chars, the tracker API request will fail with an error like

Exception: Error query: SQLSTATE[22001]: String data, right truncated: 1406 Data too long for column 'custom_dimension_2' at row 1 In query: INSERT INTO piwik_log_visit (idvisitor, config_id, location_ip, idsite, visit_first_action_time, visit_goal_buyer, visit_goal_converted, visit_last_action_time, visitor_days_since_first, visitor_days_since_order, visitor_returning, visitor_count_visits, visit_entry_idaction_name, visit_entry_idaction_url, [...], campaign_content, campaign_id, campaign_keyword, campaign_medium, campaign_name, campaign_source, custom_dimension_1, custom_dimension_2)

When manually changing the column type from VARCHAR 255 to TEXT, then the data is tracked properly, and displayed correct in the reports.

---> For users who need to track more than 255 chars, can we recommend them to manually change the DB schema column type to TEXT field? is there any possible problem with this solution?

Yes would definitely not making this the default. And would also possibly trim after 255 characters to avoid errors and rather not fully tracking it instead of failing.

Maybe the columns could be to TEXT type in the Custom Dimensions release for Piwik 4.0.0 in the future.