DB2 Version 9.7 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows

Creating structured types

A structured type is a user-defined type that contains one or more attributes, each of which has a name and a data type of its own.

A structured type can serve as the type of a table or view in which each column of the table derives its name and data type from one of the attributes of the structured type. A structured type can also serve as a type of a column or a type for an argument to a routine.

Before you begin

For the list of privileges required to define structured types, see the CREATE TYPE statement.

About this task

To define a structured type to represent a person, with age and address attributes, issue the following statement:

   CREATE TYPE Person_t AS 
      (Name VARCHAR(20), 
      Age INT,
      Address Address_t)
      INSTANTIABLE
      REF USING VARCHAR(13) FOR BIT DATA
      MODE DB2SQL;

Unlike distinct types, the attributes of structured types can be composed of types other than the built-in DB2® data types. The preceding type declaration includes an attribute called Address whose source type is another structured type, Address_t.