DB2 Version 10.1 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows

Data types (PL/SQL)

The DB2® data server supports a wide range of data types that can be used to declare variables in a PL/SQL block.

Table 1. Supported scalar data types that are available in PL/SQL
PL/SQL data type	DB2 SQL data type	Description
BINARY_INTEGER	INTEGER	Integer numeric data
BLOB	BLOB (4096)	Binary data
BLOB (`n`)	BLOB (`n`) `n` = 1 to 2 147 483 647	Binary large object data
BOOLEAN	BOOLEAN	Logical Boolean (true or false)
CHAR	CHAR (1)	Fixed-length character string data of length 1
CHAR (`n`)	CHAR (`n`) `n` = 1 to 254	Fixed-length character string data of length `n`
CHAR VARYING (`n`)	VARCHAR (`n`)	Variable-length character string data of maximum length `n`
CHARACTER	CHARACTER (1)	Fixed-length character string data of length 1
CHARACTER (`n`)	CHARACTER (`n`) `n` = 1 to 254	Fixed-length character string data of length `n`
CHARACTER VARYING (`n`)	VARCHAR (`n`) `n` = 1 to 32 672	Variable-length character string data of maximum length `n`
CLOB	CLOB (1M)	Character large object data
CLOB (`n`)	CLOB (`n`) `n` = 1 to 2 147 483 647	Fixed-length long character string data of length `n`
DATE	DATE ¹	Date and time data (expressed to the second)
DEC	DEC (9, 2)	Decimal numeric data
DEC (`p`)	DEC (`p`) `p` = 1 to 31	Decimal numeric data of precision `p`
DEC (`p`, `s`)	DEC (`p`, `s`) `p` = 1 to 31; `s` = 1 to 31	Decimal numeric data of precision `p` and scale `s`
DECIMAL	DECIMAL (9, 2)	Decimal numeric data
DECIMAL (`p`)	DECIMAL (`p`) `p` = 1 to 31	Decimal numeric data of precision `p`
DECIMAL (`p`, `s`)	DECIMAL (`p`, `s`) `p` = 1 to 31; `s` = 1 to 31	Decimal numeric data of precision `p` and scale `s`
DOUBLE	DOUBLE	Double precision floating-point number
DOUBLE PRECISION	DOUBLE PRECISION	Double precision floating-point number
FLOAT	FLOAT	Float numeric data
FLOAT (`n`) `n` = 1 to 24	REAL	Real numeric data
FLOAT (`n`) `n` = 25 to 53	DOUBLE	Double numeric data
INT	INT	Signed four-byte integer numeric data
INTEGER	INTEGER	Signed four-byte integer numeric data
LONG	CLOB (32760)	Character large object data
LONG RAW	BLOB (32760)	Binary large object data
LONG VARCHAR	CLOB (32760)	Character large object data
NATURAL	INTEGER	Signed four-byte integer numeric data
NCHAR	GRAPHIC (127)	Fixed-length graphic string data
NCHAR (`n`) `n` = 1 to 2000	GRAPHIC (`n`) `n` = 1 to 127	Fixed-length graphic string data of length `n`
NCLOB ²	DBCLOB (1M)	Double-byte character large object data
NCLOB (`n`)	DBCLOB (2000)	Double-byte long character string data of maximum length `n`
NVARCHAR2	VARGRAPHIC (2048)	Variable-length graphic string data
NVARCHAR2 (`n`)	VARGRAPHIC (`n`)	Variable-length graphic string data of maximum length `n`
NUMBER	NUMBER ³	Exact numeric data
NUMBER (`p`)	NUMBER (`p`) ³	Exact numeric data of maximum precision `p`
NUMBER (`p`, `s`)	NUMBER (`p`, `s`) ³ `p` = 1 to 31	Exact numeric data of maximum precision `p` and scale `s`
NUMERIC	NUMERIC (9.2)	Exact numeric data
NUMERIC (`p`)	NUMERIC (`p`) `p` = 1 to 31	Exact numeric data of maximum precision `p`
NUMERIC (`p`, s)	NUMERIC (`p`, `s`) `p` = 1 to 31; `s` = 0 to 31	Exact numeric data of maximum precision `p` and scale `s`
PLS_INTEGER	INTEGER	Integer numeric data
RAW	BLOB (32767)	Binary large object data
RAW (`n`)	BLOB (`n`) `n` = 1 to 32 767	Binary large object data
SMALLINT	SMALLINT	Signed two-byte integer data
TIMESTAMP (0)	TIMESTAMP (0)	Date data with timestamp information
TIMESTAMP (`p`)	TIMESTAMP (`p`)	Date and time data with optional fractional seconds and precision `p`
VARCHAR	VARCHAR (4096)	Variable-length character string data with a maximum length of 4096 characters
VARCHAR (`n`)	VARCHAR (`n`)	Variable-length character string data with a maximum length of `n` characters
VARCHAR2 (`n`)	VARCHAR2 (`n`) ⁴	Variable-length character string data with a maximum length of `n` characters
When the DB2_COMPATIBILITY_VECTOR registry variable is set for the DATE data type, DATE is equivalent to TIMESTAMP (0). For restrictions on the NCLOB data type in certain database environments, see "Restrictions on PL/SQL support". This data type is supported when the number_compat database configuration parameter set to ON. This data type is supported when the varchar2_compat database configuration parameter set to ON.

In addition to the scalar data types described in Table 1, the DB2 data server also supports collection types, record types, and REF CURSOR types.