Using Arrays

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InterBase supports arrays of most data types. Using an array enables multiple data items to be stored in a single column. InterBase can treat an array as a single unit, or as a series of separate units, called slices. Using an array is appropriate when:

• The data items naturally form a set of the same data type.
• The entire set of data items in a single database column must be represented and controlled as a unit, as opposed to storing each item in a separate column.
• Each item must also be identified and accessed individually.

The data items in an array are called array elements. An array can contain elements of any InterBase data type except BLOB. It cannot be an array of arrays, although InterBase does support multidimensional arrays. All of the elements of an array must be of the same data type.

Topics

• Creating Arrays
• Accessing Arrays

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• Creating Arrays