diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 538269b40..f186c6838 100755
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -5,6 +5,12 @@ phpMyAdmin - Changelog
 $Id$
 $Source$
 
+2002-09-19 Michal Cihar  <nijel@users.sourceforge.net>
+    * Documentation.html, config.inc.php3, tbl_change.php3,
+      libraries/config_import.lib.php3: fix for #581494 - problems with \n in
+      CHAR/VARCHAR, added new configs $cfg['CharEditing'] and
+      $cfg['CharTextarea{Cols,Rows}']
+      
 2002-09-18 Mike Beck	<mikebeck@users.sourceforge.net>
 	* db_details_qbe.php3: complete rewrite of the code
             that creates the JOINS hoping that this will 
diff --git a/Documentation.html b/Documentation.html
index 8a8822206..a6cc2bea1 100755
--- a/Documentation.html
+++ b/Documentation.html
@@ -1112,6 +1112,24 @@ $cfg['PmaAbsoluteUri'] = (!empty($_SERVER['HTTPS']) ? 'https' : 'http') . '://'
         <br /><br />
     </dd>
 
+    <dt><b>$cfg['CharEditing'] </b>string</dt>
+    <dd>
+        Defines which type of editing controls should be used for CHAR and
+        VARCHAR fields. Possible values are:
+        <ul>
+            <li>
+                input - this allows to limit size of text to size of field in
+                MySQL, but has problems with newlines in fields
+            </li>
+            <li>
+                textarea - no problems with newlines in fields, but also no
+                length limitations
+            </li>
+        </ul>
+        Default is old behavior so input.
+        <br /><br />
+    </dd>
+
     <dt>
         <b>$cfg['ZipDump'] </b>boolean<br />
         <b>$cfg['GZipDump'] </b>boolean<br />
@@ -1296,11 +1314,15 @@ $cfg['PmaAbsoluteUri'] = (!empty($_SERVER['HTTPS']) ? 'https' : 'http') . '://'
 
     <dt>
         <b>$cfg['TextareaCols'] </b>integer<br />
-        <b>$cfg['TextareaRows'] </b>integer
+        <b>$cfg['TextareaRows'] </b>integer<br />
+        <b>$cfg['CharTextareaCols'] </b>integer<br />
+        <b>$cfg['CharTextareaRows'] </b>integer
     </dt>
     <dd>
         Number of columns and rows for the textareas.<br />
-        This value will be emphasized (*2) for sql query textareas.
+        This value will be emphasized (*2) for sql query textareas.<br />
+        The Char* values are used for CHAR and VARCHAR editing (if configured
+        via $cfg['CharEditing']).
         <br /><br />
     </dd>
 
diff --git a/config.inc.php3 b/config.inc.php3
index 4076e89e1..1b136c2c9 100755
--- a/config.inc.php3
+++ b/config.inc.php3
@@ -205,6 +205,10 @@ $cfg['ProtectBinary']         = 'blob'; // disallow editing of binary fields
                                         //   'blob' allow editing except for BLOB fields
                                         //   'all'  disallow editing
 $cfg['ShowFunctionFields']    = TRUE;   // Display the function fields in edit/insert mode
+$cfg['CharEditing']           = 'input';
+                                        // Which editor should be used for CHAR/VARCHAR fields:
+                                        //  input - allows limiting of input length
+                                        //  textarea - allows newlines in fields
 
 // For the export features...
 $cfg['ZipDump']               = TRUE;   // Allow the use of zip/gzip/bzip
@@ -338,6 +342,8 @@ $cfg['TextareaCols']        = 40;           // textarea size (columns) in edit m
                                             // query textareas)
 $cfg['TextareaRows']        = 7;            // textarea size (rows) in edit mode
 $cfg['TextareaAutoSelect']  = TRUE;         // autoselect when clicking in the textarea of the querybox 
+$cfg['CharTextareaCols']    = 40;           // textarea size (columns) for CHAR/VARCHAR
+$cfg['CharTextareaRows']    = 2;            // textarea size (rows) for CHAR/VARCHAR
 $cfg['LimitChars']          = 50;           // max field data length in browse mode
 $cfg['ModifyDeleteAtLeft']  = TRUE;         // show edit/delete links on left side of browse
                                             // (or at the top with vertical browse)
diff --git a/libraries/config_import.lib.php3 b/libraries/config_import.lib.php3
index 2587c6eb1..373d26fe2 100644
--- a/libraries/config_import.lib.php3
+++ b/libraries/config_import.lib.php3
@@ -543,6 +543,24 @@ if (!defined('PMA_CONFIG_IMPORT_LIB_INCLUDED')){
     if (!isset($cfg['TextareaAutoSelect'])) {
         $cfg['TextareaAutoSelect']  = TRUE;
     }
+    
+    if (!isset($cfg['CharTextareaCols'])) {
+        if (isset($cfgCharTextareaCols)) {
+            $cfg['CharTextareaCols'] = $cfgCharTextareaCols;
+            unset($cfgCharTextareaCols);
+        } else {
+            $cfg['CharTextareaCols'] = 40;
+        }
+    }
+
+    if (!isset($cfg['CharTextareaRows'])) {
+        if (isset($cfgCharTextareaRows)) {
+            $cfg['CharTextareaRows'] = $cfgCharTextareaRows;
+            unset($cfgCharTextareaRows);
+        } else {
+            $cfg['CharTextareaRows'] = 2;
+        }
+    }
 
     if (!isset($cfg['LimitChars'])) {
         if (isset($cfgLimitChars)) {
diff --git a/tbl_change.php3 b/tbl_change.php3
index b6f6eb0b8..9d637116f 100755
--- a/tbl_change.php3
+++ b/tbl_change.php3
@@ -601,7 +601,18 @@ for ($i = 0; $i < $fields_cnt; $i++) {
         ?>
         <td bgcolor="<?php echo $bgcolor; ?>">
             <?php echo $backup_field . "\n"; ?>
-            <input type="text" name="fields[<?php echo urlencode($field); ?>]" value="<?php echo $special_chars; ?>" size="<?php echo $fieldsize; ?>" maxlength="<?php echo $maxlength; ?>" class="textfield" <?php echo $chg_evt_handler; ?>="return unNullify('<?php echo urlencode($field); ?>')" tabindex="<?php echo $i+1; ?>" />
+	    <?php
+	    if ($is_char && isset($cfg['CharEditing']) && ($cfg['CharEditing'] == 'textarea')) {
+	    ?>
+            <textarea name="fields[<?php echo urlencode($field); ?>]" rows="<?php echo $cfg['CharTextareaRows']; ?>" cols="<?php echo $cfg['CharTextareaCols']; ?>" wrap="virtual" dir="<?php echo $text_dir; ?>"
+                <?php echo $chg_evt_handler; ?>="return unNullify('<?php echo urlencode($field); ?>')" tabindex="<?php echo $i+1; ?>" ><?php echo $special_chars; ?></textarea>
+	    <?php
+	    } else {
+	    ?>
+            <input type="text" name="fields[<?php echo urlencode($field); ?>]" value="<?php echo $special_chars; ?>" size="<?php echo $fieldsize; ?>" maxlength="<?php echo $maxlength; ?>" class="textfield" <?php echo $chg_evt_handler; ?>="return unnullify('<?php echo urlencode($field); ?>')" tabindex="<?php echo $i+1; ?>" />
+	    <?
+	    }
+	    ?>
         </td>
         <?php
     }