In 2.4.3 we have added three new properties to the textarea:
In your Metamodel you can set a maximum length of characters for any attribute of type String; you can also set it to unlimited.
There is also a property 'Max length' on inputfields in any dataview which you can set to 'attribute length', 'unlimited' or a 'custom length'. To use this property select the inputfield, go to the property menu 'Behavior' and select option 'Max length'.