Data types
The list shows the available data types.
| Data type | Description |
|---|---|
| Integer | Integer values are written as a sequence of
digits, possibly prefixed by a + or - sign. The integer values that can be
specified range from -2147483648 to 2147483647. If used where a decimal value
was expected, the integer values are automatically converted to decimal values.
Note that hexadecimal values can be used in custom expressions and in calculated columns. They cannot be used when opening data. Hexadecimal-formatted values have a size limitation of 8 characters. Examples: 0 101 -32768 +55 0xff = 255 0x7fffffff = 2147483647 0x80000000 = -2147483648 |
| LongInteger | LongInteger can be used if the range for the
standard Integer is not enough for your needs. It ranges from
-9223372036854775808 to 9223372036854775807. LongInteger cannot be converted to
Real without precision loss, but it can be converted to Currency without
precision loss.
Note: Hexadecimal values can be used in custom expressions and in calculated columns. They cannot be used when opening data. Examples: 2147483648 0x7FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF = -9223372036854775808 0x8000000000000000 = 9223372036854775807 |
| Real | Real values are written as standard floating
point numbers with a period for a decimal point and no thousands separator. The
real values that can be specified range from -8.98846567431157E+307 to
8.98846567431157E+307.
The number of significant digits that can be shown is limited to 15, even though 16 can be used in calculations. Math operations on real values which produce results that cannot be represented by the real data type generate numeric errors. In the resulting data table, these special cases will be filtered out and replaced by null. Examples: 0.0 0.1 10000.0 -1.23e-22 +1.23e+22 1E6 |
| SingleReal | SingleReal values are written as standard
floating point numbers with lower precision and range than Real. SingleReal
occupies 50% less memory than Real. The SingleReal values that can be specified
range from -1.7014117E+38 to 1.7014117E+38.
The number of significant digits that can be shown is limited to 7, even though 8 can be used in calculations. SingleReal can be converted to Real with minor precision loss. |
| Currency | Currency constants are written as integer or
real constants with an 'm' suffix.
The data format behind the currency type is decimal. The decimal data format uses the base 10 in its calculations, which means that the round-off errors that may occur when doing binary calculations can be avoided with this format. However, this also means that heavy calculations take a longer time. The number of significant digits that can be shown for a currency value is 28 (29 can be used in calculations). Currency values that can be specified range from -39614081257132168796771975168 to 39614081257132168796771975168. Currency columns cannot be used in data functions. |
| Date | A date and time format depending on the
locale on your computer. Dates from January 1, 1583 and forward are supported.
Examples: 6/12/2006 June 12 June, 2006 |
| DateTime | A date and time format depending on the
locale on your computer. Dates from January 1, 1583 and forward are supported.
Examples: 6/12/2006 Monday, June 12, 2006 1:05 PM 6/12/2006 10:14:35 AM |
| Time | A date and time format depending on the
locale on your computer.
Examples: 2006-06-12 10:14:35 10:14 10:14:35 |
| TimeSpan | TimeSpan is a value describing the
difference between two dates.
It has 5 possible fields: Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds
Fractions (decimals of seconds)
TimeSpan values can be displayed on a compact form: [-]d.h:m:s.f ([-]days.hours:minutes:seconds.fractions) or written out with words or abbreviations for each available field. Some of the descriptive forms can be localized. Total min: -10675199.02:48:05.477 Total max: 10675199.02:48:05.477 |
| Boolean | True and false. Booleans are used to
represent true and false values returned by comparison operators and logical
functions.
The display values can be localized. Examples: true false 1 < 5 |
| String | String values are surrounded by double
quotes or single quotes. Escaping is performed by entering the delimiter symbol
twice in a row (i.e., '' or ""). A string value can contain any sequence of
UNICODE characters. A double quote cannot be used within the string unless it
is escaped. Backslash is used to escape special characters, so it too must be
escaped.
The basic escaping rules are that only the characters defined below can be used after a \; everything else will generate an error. Examples: "Hello world" "25""23" "1\n2\n" "C:\\TEMP\\image.png" |
| Binary | May contain any type of data, encoded in
binary form.
Examples: Images Chemical structure information |