StringLength vs MaxLength attributes ASP.NET MVC with Entity Framework EF Code First

MaxLength is used for the Entity Framework to decide how large to make a string value field when it creates the database.

From MSDN:

Specifies the maximum length of array or string data allowed in a property.

StringLength is a data annotation that will be used for validation of user input.

From MSDN:

Specifies the minimum and maximum length of characters that are allowed in a data field.


Some quick but extremely useful additional information that I just learned from another post, but can't seem to find the documentation for (if anyone can share a link to it on MSDN that would be amazing):

The validation messages associated with these attributes will actually replace placeholders associated with the attributes. For example:

[MaxLength(100, "{0} can have a max of {1} characters")]
public string Address { get; set; }

Will output the following if it is over the character limit: "Address can have a max of 100 characters"

The placeholders I am aware of are:

  • {0} = Property Name
  • {1} = Max Length
  • {2} = Min Length

Much thanks to bloudraak for initially pointing this out.


Following are the results when we use both [MaxLength] and [StringLength] attributes, in EF code first. If both are used, [MaxLength] wins the race. See the test result in studentname column in below class

 public class Student
 {
    public Student () {}

    [Key]
    [Column(Order=1)]
    public int StudentKey { get; set; }

    //[MaxLength(50),StringLength(60)]    //studentname column will be nvarchar(50)
    //[StringLength(60)]    //studentname column will be nvarchar(60)
    [MaxLength(50)] //studentname column will be nvarchar(50)
    public string StudentName { get; set; }

    [Timestamp]
    public byte[] RowVersion { get; set; }
 }