DATETIME Considerations using Informix Load Stages
In Informix®, a valid DATETIME format can be either yyyy-mo-dd hh:mi:ss.ff or any contiguous subset of this string, for example, mo-dd hh. Any column defined to contain such a subset would not accept a full ANSI DATETIME.
Therefore, the DATETIME type generated within the data file should correspond to the DATETIME type defined for the actual column in a table. To be consistent with the Informix DDL, you should use the Datetime Format property to specify a default format for all DATETIME columns. Then specify a DATETIME format in the Description field of the column definition grid for every DATETIME column that differs from the default. The following table shows some examples for specifying this property:
| DATETIME Column Description Expression | Description |
|---|---|
| Year to Fraction(3) | The default value (does not have to be entered). Full ANSI DATETIME with a precision of 3. |
| Hour to Second | A partial ANSI DATETIME type, starting from hours and ending at seconds. |
| Month to Minute | A partial ANSI DATETIME type, starting from months and ending at minutes. |
| Hour to Fraction(5) | A partial ANSI DATETIME type, starting from hours and ending at fractions with a precision of 5. |