Numeric data type helper functions

For fixed-point numeric data types, the IBM® Netezza® system stores numeric data as integers by using three different value sizes: 32-bit, 64-bit, and 128-bit. The storage size depends on the numeric precision, or the total number of digits before and after the decimal point. Numeric values can have up to 38 digits in total.

For example, Netezza stores the value 129.456 as the integer 129456 by using a numeric(6,3) data type. The precision (6) specifies the number of digits in the numeric, and the scale (3) specifies the number of digits that follow the decimal point.

You can use the following helper functions to convert numeric data types to different precisions, scales, or both and also to different storage sizes. In addition, there is a helper function that you can use to verify whether an input numeric value has 38 digits or less.