For a physical file, use this position to specify the data type of the
field within the database.
Specify data type in a logical file only to override or change the data
type of the corresponding field in the physical file on which this logical
file is based. If you leave this position blank, the field you are
defining has the same data type as the corresponding field in the physical
file(s) on which the logical file(s) is based.
Valid data type entries are as follows:
- Entry
- Meaning
- P
- Packed decimal
- S
- Zoned decimal
- B
- Binary
- F
- Floating-point
- A
- Character
- H
- Hexadecimal
- L
- Date
- T
- Time
- Z
- Timestamp
Figure 3 and Figure 1 show how to code the data type.
For physical files, if you do not specify a data type or duplicate one from
a referenced field, the OS/400 program assigns the following defaults:
- A (character) if the decimal positions 36 through 37 are blank.
- P (packed decimal) if the decimal positions 36 through 37 contain a number
in the range 0 through 31.
Notes:
- Specify 0 in position 37 to indicate an integer numeric field for packed
decimal, zoned decimal, or binary fields.
- Specify an F in position 35 for a single precision floating-point
field. Use the FLTPCN keyword to specify double precision or to change
the precision of an already specified floating-point field.
- Specify an H (hexadecimal) in position 35 to indicate a field whose
contents are not interpreted by the system. In most cases, hexadecimal
fields are treated as character fields, except the contents of a hexadecimal
field are not translated to any character set or code page.
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