COBOL copybook types that map to Java data types

Because data in IMS is not strongly typed, you can use COBOL copybook types to map your IMS data to Java™ data types.

The following table describes how COBOL copybook types are mapped to both DLITypeInfo constants in the DLIDatabaseView class and Java data types.

Table 1. Mapping from COBOL formats to DLITypeInfo constants and Java data types
Copybook format	DLITypeInfo constant	Java data type
PIC X	CHAR	`java.lang.String`
PIC 9 BINARY¹	See DLITypeInfo constants and Java data types based on the PICTURE clause.²	See DLITypeInfo constants and Java data types based on the PICTURE clause.²
COMP-1	FLOAT	float
COMP-2	DOUBLE	double
PIC 9 COMP-3³	PACKEDDECIMAL	`java.math.BigDecimal`
PIC 9 DISPLAY⁴	ZONEDDECIMAL	`java.math.BigDecimal`

Notes:

Synonyms for BINARY data items are COMP and COMP-4. A PIC 9(06)V99 statement with COMP or COMP-4 is used for binary decimal data.
For BINARY data items, the DLITypeInfo constant and Java type depend on the number of digits in the PICTURE clause.The table DLITypeInfo constants and Java data types based on the PICTURE clause describes the type based on PICTURE clause length.
PACKED-DECIMAL is a synonym for COMP-3.
If the USAGE clause is not specified at either the group or elementary level, it is assumed to be DISPLAY.

The following table shows the DLITypeInfo constants and the Java data types based on the PICTURE clause.

Table 2. DLITypeInfo constants and Java data types based on the PICTURE clause
Digits in PICTURE clause	Storage occupied	`DLITypeInfo` constant	Java data type
1 through 2	1 byte	TINYINT UTINYINT	byte
1 through 4	2 bytes	SMALLINT USMALLINT	short
5 through 9	4 bytes	INTEGER UINTEGER	int
10 through 18	8 bytes	BIGINT UBIGINT	long

The following table shows examples of specific copybook formats mapped to DLITypeInfo constants.