DECIMAL ARITHMETIC field (DECARTH DECP value)

The DECARTH DECP value specifies the rules that are to be used when both operands in a decimal operation have precisions of 15 or less.

Acceptable values: DEC15, DEC31, 15, 31, or Start of changeDPP.SEnd of change
Default: DEC15
Update: not recommended; cannot be changed during migration
dsnhdecp: DECARTH
DEC15 or 15
Specifies the rules that do not allow a precision greater than 15 digits.
DEC31 or 31
Specifies the rules that allow a precision of up to 31 digits. The rules for DEC31 are always used if either operand has a precision greater than 15. If you chose DEC15 for your previous installation, choosing DEC31 can produce different results for operations on existing data.
Start of changeDPP.SEnd of change
Start of change"PP" is either 15 or 31 and "S" is a number between 1 and 9. If the form "DPP.S" is used, "PP" represents the precision that is to be used with the rules that are used for DEC15 or DEC31, and "S" represents the minimum divide scale to use for division operations. The separator that is used in the form "DPP.S" can be either the "." or the "," character, regardless of the setting of the default decimal point. An error occurs if any other values are specified. End of change

This installation option applies to dynamic SQL by becoming the initial value for the CURRENT PRECISION special register, and it provides the default for the DEC precompiler option. DEC15 is sufficient for most sites. Do not choose DEC31 unless you are certain that you need the extra precision. If you use DEC31, you are more likely to get a bind error, particularly in division operations.