BLOB Subtypes
Go Up to Defining BLOB Data Types
When you define a BLOB column, you have the option of specifying a subtype. A BLOB subtype is a positive or negative integer that describes the nature of the BLOB data contained in the column. InterBase provides two predefined subtypes, 0, signifying that a BLOB contains binary data, the default, and 1, signifying that a BLOB contains ASCII text. User-defined subtypes must always be represented as negative integers. Positive integers are reserved for use by InterBase.
| Blob subtype | Description |
|---|---|
|
0 |
Unstructured, generally applied to binary data or data of an indeterminate type |
|
1 |
Text |
|
2 |
Binary language representation (BLR) |
|
3 |
Access control list |
|
4 |
(Reserved for future use) |
|
5 |
Encoded description of the current metadata of a table |
|
6 |
Description of multi-database transaction that finished irregularly |
TEXT is a keyword and can be used in a BLOB column declaration instead of the subtype number.
For example, the following statement defines three BLOB columns: BLOB1 with subtype 0 (the default), BLOB2 with InterBase subtype 1 (TEXT), and BLOB3 with user-defined subtype –1:
CREATE TABLE TABLE2
(BLOB1 BLOB,
BLOB2 BLOB SUB_TYPE 1,
BLOB3 BLOB SUB_TYPE –1);
The application is responsible for ensuring that data stored in a BLOB column agrees with its subtype. For example, if subtype –10 denotes a certain data type in a particular application, then the application must ensure that only data of that data type is written to a BLOB column of subtype –10. InterBase does not check the type or format of BLOB data.
To specify both a default segment length and a subtype when creating a BLOB column, use the SEGMENT SIZE option after the SUB_TYPE option, as in the following example:
CREATE TABLE TABLE2
(BLOB1 BLOB SUB_TYPE 1 SEGMENT SIZE 100 CHARACTER SET DOS437);