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General Data Types

SQL has several general data types that determine how data is stored and operated on in database tables. The common data types include character strings, numbers, dates, times, and binary data. Different database platforms use similar but sometimes differently named data types.

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89 views

General Data Types

SQL has several general data types that determine how data is stored and operated on in database tables. The common data types include character strings, numbers, dates, times, and binary data. Different database platforms use similar but sometimes differently named data types.

Uploaded by

Rocky
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SQL General Data Types

Each column in a database table is required to have a name and a data type.
SQL developers have to decide what types of data will be stored inside each and
every table column when creating a SQL table. The data type is a label and a
guideline for SQL to understand what type of data is expected inside of each column,
and it also identifies how SQL will interact with the stored data.
The following table lists the general data types in SQL:
Data type

Description

CHARACTER(n)

Character string. Fixed-length n

VARCHAR(n) or
CHARACTER VARYING(n)

Character string. Variable length. Maximum length n

BINARY(n)

Binary string. Fixed-length n

BOOLEAN

Stores TRUE or FALSE values

VARBINARY(n) or
BINARY VARYING(n)

Binary string. Variable length. Maximum length n

INTEGER(p)

Integer numerical (no decimal). Precision p

SMALLINT

Integer numerical (no decimal). Precision 5

INTEGER

Integer numerical (no decimal). Precision 10

BIGINT

Integer numerical (no decimal). Precision 19

DECIMAL(p,s)

Exact numerical, precision p, scale s. Example: decimal(5,2) is a numb


digits before the decimal and 2 digits after the decimal

NUMERIC(p,s)

Exact numerical, precision p, scale s. (Same as DECIMAL)

FLOAT(p)

Approximate numerical, mantissa precision p. A floating number in bas


exponential notation. The size argument for this type consists of a sing
specifying the minimum precision

REAL

Approximate numerical, mantissa precision 7

FLOAT

Approximate numerical, mantissa precision 16

DOUBLE PRECISION

Approximate numerical, mantissa precision 16

DATE

Stores year, month, and day values

TIME

Stores hour, minute, and second values

TIMESTAMP

Stores year, month, day, hour, minute, and second values

INTERVAL

Composed of a number of integer fields, representing a period of time,


the type of interval

ARRAY

A set-length and ordered collection of elements

MULTISET

A variable-length and unordered collection of elements

XML

Stores XML data

SQL Data Type Quick Reference


However, different databases offer different choices for the data type definition.
The following table shows some of the common names of data types between the
various database platforms:
Data type

Access

SQLServer

Oracle

MySQL

boolean

Yes/No

Bit

Byte

N/A

integer

Number (integer)

Int

Number

Int
Integer

float

Number (single)

Float
Real

Number

Float

currency

Currency

Money

N/A

N/A

string (fixed)

N/A

Char

Char

Char

string (variable)

Text (<256)
Memo (65k+)

Varchar

Varchar
Varchar2

Varchar

binary object

OLE Object Memo

Binary (fixed up to 8K)


Varbinary (<8K)
Image (<2GB)

Long
Raw

Blob
Text

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