Built-in data elements

There are six data elements that represent each of the base types used internally by InfoSphere DataStage:

• Date. The column contains a date, represented in InfoSphere DataStage internal format. There are many built-in transforms available to convert dates to character strings.
• Number. The column contains a numeric value.
• String. The column contains data as a string of characters. InfoSphere DataStage interprets the string as a number if needed.
• Time. The column contains data as a time.
• Default. The data has an SQL data type already assigned and the most appropriate base type is used.
• Timestamp. The column contains a string that represents a combined date/time:

  YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS

In addition, there are some data elements that are used to express dates in alternative ways:

• DATE.TAG. The data specifies a date and is stored in the following format:

  1993-02-14 (February 14, 1993)

• WEEK.TAG. The data specifies a week and is stored in the following format:

  1993W06 (week 6 of 1993)

• MONTH.TAG. The data specifies a month and is stored in the following format:

  1993-02 (February 1993)

• QUARTER.TAG. The data specifies a quarter and is stored in the following format:

  1993Q1 (quarter 1, 1993)

• YEAR.TAG. The data specifies a year and is stored in the following format:

  1993

Each of these data elements has a base type of String. The format of the date complies with various ISO 8601 date formats.

You can view the properties of these data elements. You cannot edit them.