Graphic strings

A graphic string is a sequence of double-byte characters.

The length of the string is the number of characters in the sequence. Like character strings, graphic strings can be empty. An empty string should not be confused with the null value.

Fixed-length graphic strings
When fixed-length graphic string distinct types, columns, and variables are defined, the length attribute is specified and all values have the same length. For a fixed-length graphic string, the length attribute must be between 1 and 127 inclusive. A fixed-length graphic string column can also be called a GRAPHIC column.
Varying-length graphic strings
The types of varying-length graphic strings are VARGRAPHIC and double-byte character large object (DBCLOB). DBCLOB is a type of LOB. A DBCLOB column is useful for storing large amounts of double-byte character data, such as documents written with a single double-byte character set.
Graphic string variables
Graphic string variables must follow certain rules.
Graphic string encoding schemes
Each graphic string can be further defined as either double-byte data or Unicode data.
String units in built-in functions
When working with graphic strings, you can specify the string unit in which the operation is to take place for certain built-in functions and the CAST specification. The string unit determines the length in which the operation is to occur.

Parent topic: Data types