QMF for Windows can retrieve large objects (LOBs) from a database, save LOBs to a database, export LOB data to your PC, and insert data types such as text, graphics, audio, video, mixed media, and photo images.
You can retrieve a LOB from a database then edit the LOB in an application that supports the file type you retrieved. For example, you can edit a bitmap in Microsoft Paint (R), as long as Paint is installed on your computer. LOBs are stored in QMF for Windows tables and you manipulate the LOBs as you would any other type of data stored in a QMF for Windows table.
LOBs are supported by DRDA, CLI, and ODBC connections. For each server, LOB support is determined by which connection is used. For example, a DRDA connection does not support LOBs for all UPB servers. For a UPB server, however, LOBs are supported by a CLI connection.
Because LOBs consume a significant amount of memory, DB2 provides three data types to store these data objects as strings of up to two gigabytes. These include: