Data Types (SAP Library - Loader: SAP DB 7.4)

Data Types

With most commands for loading and unloading, you can specify the data type which the relevant field values in the data stream have or should have. This specification tells the SAP DB Loader how to interpret the data in the data stream.

When loading application data in a table, the specified external data types are converted to internal database types and the corresponding column values of a table are loaded.

When unloading application data from a table, the internal database types are converted to the specified external data types and the corresponding column values are unloaded.

See also:

Converting the Data Types

Note

You cannot specify an external data type with the TABLELOAD and TABLEEXTRACT commands.

The external data type and the corresponding internal database data type of the column value in the target table do not have to be identical.

Example

The database table article requires the internal database data type FIXED for the value in the ordered column.

The FASTLOAD command defines the external data type INTEGER for the column ordered.

FASTLOAD TABLE article
ano 01-08
descr 09-39 CHAR
stock 40-43 INTEGER
min_ord 44-45 INTEGER
ordered 46-49 INTEGER
del_date 50-57 CHAR
price 58-65 DECIMAL(2)
weight 66-69 REAL
INFILE 'article.data' FORMATTED

The data in the column ordered is converted to the internal database data type FIXED when it is loaded.