$type =~ s/\s+/ /g;  # Liberal for inputs, strict for outputs.
$type =~ s/^\s//;
$type =~ s/\s\z//;
$type = uc($type);

$type =~ /
   ^
   (?: VARCHAR (?: \s* \( \s* [0-9]+ \s* \) )?
   |   CHAR    (?: \s* \( \s* [0-9]+ \s* \) )?
   |   ...
   )
   \z
/x
   or die;

##</code><code>##

if ($type eq 'VARCHAR') {
   if ($arg eq '')             { $sql = $type; }
   elsif ($arg =~ /^[0-9]+\z/) { $sql = "$type($arg)"; }
   else { die }
}
elsif ($type eq 'CHAR') {
   if ($arg eq '')             { $sql = $type; }
   elsif ($arg =~ /^[0-9]+\z/) { $sql = "$type($arg)"; }
   else { die }
}
...
else {
   die
}