ASC data type descriptions
The following table lists the data types and the acceptable forms for each one for the import and load utilities.
| Data type | Acceptable forms |
|---|---|
| BIGINT | A constant in any numeric type (SMALLINT, INTEGER, BIGINT, DECIMAL, or FLOAT) is accepted.
Individual values are rejected if they are not in the range -9223372036854775808 to
9223372036854775807. Decimal numbers are truncated to integer values. A comma, period, or colon is
considered to be a decimal point. Thousands separators are not allowed. The beginning and ending locations should specify a field whose width does not exceed 50 bytes. Integers, decimal numbers, and the mantissas of floating point numbers can have no more than 31 digits. Exponents of floating point numbers can have no more than 3 digits. |
| BLOB/CLOB | A string of characters. The character string is truncated on the right, if necessary, to match the maximum length of the target column. If the ASC truncate blanks option is in effect, trailing blanks are stripped from the original or the truncated string. |
| BLOB_FILE, CLOB_FILE, DBCLOB_FILE (DBCS only) | A delimited or non-delimited name of the file that holds the data. |
| BOOLEAN | A Boolean value of 1 or 0. Other values (TRUE or FALSE, YES or NO, etc.) cannot be used. |
| CHAR | A string of characters. If required to match the width of the target column, the character string is leading truncated or padded with trailing spaces. |
| DATE | A character string representing a date value in a format consistent
with the territory code of the target database. The beginning and ending locations should specify a field width that is within the range for the external representation of a date. |
| DBCLOB (DBCS only) | A string of an even number of bytes. A string of an odd number of bytes is invalid and is not accepted. A valid string is truncated on the right, if necessary, to match the maximum length of the target column. |
| DECIMAL | A constant in any numeric type (SMALLINT, INTEGER, BIGINT,
DECIMAL, or FLOAT) is accepted. Individual values are rejected if
they are not in the range of the database column into which they are
being imported. If the input value has more digits after the decimal
point than the scale of the database column, the excess digits are
truncated. A comma, period, or colon is considered to be a decimal
point. Thousands separators are not allowed. The beginning and ending locations should specify a field whose width does not exceed 50 bytes. Integers, decimal numbers, and the mantissas of floating point numbers can have no more than 31 digits. Exponents of floating point numbers can have no more than 3 digits. |
| FLOAT(long) | A constant in any numeric type (SMALLINT, INTEGER, BIGINT,
DECIMAL, or FLOAT) is accepted. All values are valid. A comma, period,
or colon is considered to be a decimal point. An uppercase or lowercase
E is accepted as the beginning of the exponent of a FLOAT constant.
The beginning and ending locations should specify a field whose width does not exceed 50 bytes. Integers, decimal numbers, and the mantissas of floating point numbers can have no more than 31 digits. Exponents of floating point numbers can have no more than 3 digits. |
| GRAPHIC (DBCS only) | A string of an even number of bytes. A string of an odd number of bytes is invalid and is not accepted. A valid string is truncated or padded with double-byte spaces (0x8140) on the right, if necessary, to match the maximum length of the target column. |
| INTEGER | A constant in any numeric type (SMALLINT, INTEGER, BIGINT, DECIMAL, or FLOAT) is accepted.
Individual values are rejected if they are not in the range -2147483648 to 2147483647. Decimal
numbers are truncated to integer values. A comma, period, or colon is considered to be a decimal
point. Thousands separators are not allowed. The beginning and ending locations should specify a field whose width does not exceed 50 bytes. Integers, decimal numbers, and the mantissas of floating point numbers can have no more than 31 digits. Exponents of floating point numbers can have no more than 3 digits. |
| LONG VARCHAR | A string of characters. If required to match the maximum length of the target column, the character string is leading truncated. If the ASC truncate blanks option is in effect, trailing blanks are stripped from the original or the truncated string. |
| LONG VARGRAPHIC (DBCS only) | A string of an even number of bytes. A string of an odd number of bytes is invalid and is not accepted. A valid string is truncated on the right, if necessary, to match the maximum length of the target column. |
| SMALLINT | A constant in any numeric type (SMALLINT, INTEGER, BIGINT, DECIMAL, or FLOAT) is accepted.
Individual values are rejected if they are not in the range -32768 to 32767. Decimal numbers are
truncated to integer values. A comma, period, or colon is considered to be a decimal point.
Thousands separators are not allowed. The beginning and ending locations should specify a field whose width does not exceed 50 bytes. Integers, decimal numbers, and the mantissas of floating point numbers can have no more than 31 digits. Exponents of floating point numbers can have no more than 3 digits. |
| TIME | A character string representing a time value in a format consistent
with the territory code of the target database. The beginning and ending locations should specify a field width that is within the range for the external representation of a time. |
| TIMESTAMP | A character string representing a time stamp value acceptable
for storage in a database. The beginning and ending locations should specify a field width that is within the range for the external representation of a time stamp. |
| VARCHAR | A string of characters. If required to match the maximum length of the target column, the character string is leading truncated. If the ASC truncate blanks option is in effect, trailing blanks are stripped from the original or the truncated string. |
| VARGRAPHIC (DBCS only) | A string of an even number of bytes. A string of an odd number of bytes is invalid and is not accepted. A valid string is truncated on the right, if necessary, to match the maximum length of the target column. |