Where to Specify Data Types
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Go Up to Specifying Data Types
A data type is assigned to a column in the following situations:
- Creating a table using
CREATE TABLE
. - Adding a new column to a table or altering a column using
ALTER TABLE
. - Creating a global column template using
CREATE DOMAIN
. - Modifying a global column template using
ALTER DOMAIN
.
The syntax for specifying the data type with these statements is provided here for reference.
<data_type> =
{SMALLINT | INTEGER | FLOAT | DOUBLE PRECISION} [<array_dim>]
| {DATE | TIME | TIMESTAMP} [<array_dim>]
| {DECIMAL | NUMERIC} [(precision [, scale])] [<array_dim>]
| {CHAR | CHARACTER | CHARACTER VARYING | VARCHAR} [(int)]
[<array_dim>] [CHARACTER SET charname]
| {NCHAR | NATIONAL CHARACTER | NATIONAL CHAR}
[VARYING] [(int)] [<array_dim>]
| BLOB [SUB_TYPE {int
| subtype_name}] [SEGMENT SIZE int]
[CHARACTER SET charname]
| BLOB [(seglen [, subtype])]
For more information on how to create a data type using CREATE TABLE
and ALTER TABLE
, see Working with Tables. For more information on using CREATE DOMAIN
to define data types, see Working with Domains.