title: Does the length field on the javax.persistence @Column define max?
body: <p>I have this code:</p>
  
  <pre><code>public class Item { 
      @Column(name = "serialNo", length = 12)
      public String getSerialNo() {
          return this.serialNo;
      }
  
      public void setSerialNo(String serialNo) {
          this.serialNo = serialNo;
      }
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>However, the database schema defines the column to be lenght 13. When the item is retrieved via:</p>
  
  <pre><code>List&lt;Item&gt; items = getEntityManager().createNamedQuery(SQL).getResultList();
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>The data that has <code>serialNo</code> characters equal to <code>13</code> (since db table schema allows 13) are still being displayed as 13, not truncated. What is the use of the <code>@Column</code> <code>length</code> then?</p>