The following table lists the attributes reported by a HELP COLUMN request.
Attribute | Data Type | Nullable? | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Column Name | CHARACTER(30) | No | The name of a column for which HELP information is being returned. |
Type See Data Type Codes for a list of the data type codes and descriptions. |
CHARACTER(2) | Yes | The data type for data in the
column. With an explicit format, DATE is
imported and exported according to that format, as indicated in
the following bullets.
The character data types Latin, Unicode, Graphic, KanjiSJIS, and Kanji1 are distinguished with respect to CF and CV by their respective value for the Character Type column. The type codes GF and GV are no longer returned for columns defined as CHARACTER(n) CHARACTER SET GRAPHIC. |
Nullable | CHARACTER(1) | Yes | Indicates whether the column
specified in Column Name is nullable.
|
Format | CHARACTER(30) | Yes | Display format for the data type. For a UDT, the displayed format is the format associated with the external type of the UDT. For data type display formats, see Teradata Vantage™ - Data Types and Literals, B035-1143. |
Max Length | INTEGER | Yes | Maximum amount of storage in bytes. MaxLength is the length of the external CharFix representation of the column, defined as CHARACTER(MaxLength) in USING clauses and any other place this needs to be specified. Note that while MaxLength is usually expressed as the internal size, presentation of the external size seems more appropriate for these data types. See Teradata Vantage™ - Data Types and Literals, B035-1143 for each individual DateTime and Interval to determine the MaxLength values. For CHARACTER data, Max Length is the length of the column declaration in bytes. For column names, the maximum length is 256 bytes; however, the enforced maximum column name length is 60 bytes. For a UDT, Max Length is the maximum length of the external type associated with the UDT formatted as -(10)9. When DATEFORM=ANSIDATE, this column should be described externally as CHARACTER(10). Host data characteristics for these data types should be interpreted as the equivalent of CF, or CHARACTER(n) data type. You can use the StatementInfo parcel to return the description of items within the Data Field of the corresponding indicator mode Record parcels. For example, the FastLoad .TABLE command can be executed in Indicator Mode to get the additional information of data type and length of all table attributes. That information can then be used to fetch the data correctly in any database release. |
Decimal Total Digits | SMALLINT | Yes | If type is DECIMAL. For INTERVAL types, returns a value from 1 - 4 representing the number of digits in the leading field of the interval (number of non-fractional digits for INTERVAL SECOND). This column is null for TIME and TIMESTAMP data types. |
Decimal Fractional Digits | SMALLINT | Yes | If type is DECIMAL. For TIME and TIMESTAMP types and all INTERVAL types with a SECOND field, this column returns a value of 0 - 6, indicating the fractional precision of seconds. For INTERVAL types without a SECOND field, the column returns null. |
Range Low | FLOAT | Yes | Always null. BETWEEN clause now included in column constraint. |
Range High | FLOAT | Yes | Always null. BETWEEN clause now included in column constraint. |
Uppercase | CHARACTER(1) | Yes | Returned if type is CHARACTER or
VARCHAR.
|
Table/View? | CHARACTER(1) | No | Indicates whether the column
specified by Column Name is from a table or a view.
|
Indexed? | CHARACTER(1) | Yes | Identifies if the column is
single-column index.
Whether the value for this attribute is Y or N, the column might be a member of a column set that defines a composite index. Use HELP INDEX to see a list of all the primary and secondary indexes for a table. |
Unique? | CHARACTER(1) | Yes | If the column defines a
single-column index, indicates whether the index is unique or
nonunique.
If INDEXED? attribute is N, then returns null. |
Primary? | CHARACTER(1) | Yes | If the column defines a
single-column index, is that index a primary index or a secondary
index?
Multiple-column indexes return a null result. If INDEXED? attribute is N, then returns null. |
Title | VARCHAR (60) | Yes | The title (if a title exists) for the column about which HELP information is being returned. |
Column Constraint | VARCHAR(255) | Yes | The text of the constraint clause, if a constraint is specified for the column. |
Character Type | SMALLINT | Yes | Returns the character data type for
a CHAR or VARCHAR column.
If the data type of the column is not character, returns a null. |
IDCol Type | CHARACTER(2) | Yes | Returns a code for the type of
identity column.
If the column is not an identity column, returns a null. |
UDT Name | VARCHAR (61) | Yes | Returns the qualified type name for the UDT. |
Temporal Column This attribute only applies to temporal tables. |
CHARACTER(1) | Yes | Returns the temporal qualification,
if any, for the column formatted as X(1) with the title Temporal
Column.
If the column is not temporal, returns null. For information about temporal columns, see Teradata Vantage™ - ANSI Temporal Table Support, B035-1186 and Teradata Vantage™ - Temporal Table Support, B035-1182. |
Current ValidTime Unique This attribute only applies to temporal tables. |
CHARACTER(1) | Yes | Reports whether a VALIDTIME column
is Current and a UNIQUE constraint or not. If the value is:
For information about temporal columns, see Teradata Vantage™ - ANSI Temporal Table Support, B035-1186 and Teradata Vantage™ - ANSI Temporal Table Support, B035-1186. |
Sequenced ValidTime Unique This attribute only applies to temporal tables. |
CHARACTER(1) | Yes | Reports whether a VALIDTIME column
is Sequenced and a UNIQUE constraint or not. If
the value is:
For information about temporal columns, see Teradata Vantage™ - ANSI Temporal Table Support, B035-1186 and Teradata Vantage™ - Temporal Table Support, B035-1182. |
Nonsequenced ValidTime Unique This attribute only applies to temporal tables. |
CHARACTER(1) | Yes | Reports whether a VALIDTIME column
is Nonsequenced and a UNIQUE constraint or not. If the value is:
For information about temporal columns, see Teradata Vantage™ - ANSI Temporal Table Support, B035-1186 and Teradata Vantage™ - Temporal Table Support, B035-1182. |
Current TransactionTime Unique This attribute only applies to temporal tables. |
CHARACTER(1) | Yes | Reports whether a TRANSACTIONTIME
column is Current and a UNIQUE constraint or not. If the value
is:
For information about temporal columns, see Teradata Vantage™ - ANSI Temporal Table Support, B035-1186 and Teradata Vantage™ - Temporal Table Support, B035-1182. |
Partitioning Column This attribute only applies to column-partitioned tables and join indexes. |
CHARACTER(1) LATIN UPPERCASE NOT CASESPECIFIC NOT NULL | No | Identifies whether the column is
the partitioning column.
|
Column Partition Number This attribute applies to column-partitioned tables and join indexes. |
BIGINT NOT NULL | No | When a column or column expression is column-partitioned, identifies the number of the column partition to which the column belongs.
The format for Column Partition Number is 'ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ9'. Columns of a column-partitioned table or join index that have the same column partition number belong to the same column partition.
|
Column Partition Format This attribute applies to column-partitioned tables and join indexes. |
CHARACTER(2) LATIN UPPERCASE NOT CASESPECIFIC NOT NULL | No | The format for a column
partition.
|
Column Partition AC This attribute applies to column-partitioned tables and join indexes. |
CHARACTER(2) LATIN UPPERCASE NOT CASESPECIFIC NOT NULL | No | Indicates whether a column that is
part of a column partition is auto-compressed.
|
Derived_UDT This attribute applies to derived Period columns. |
CHARACTER(2) LATIN UPPERCASE NOT CASESPECIFIC NOT NULL | No | This attribute applies to derived
Period columns.
|
Derived_UDTFieldID | SMALLINT | Yes | This attribute applies to derived
Period columns and either reports the fieldid of the derived UDT
column or null. Null means one of two possible things.
|
Column Dictionary Name | VARCHAR(128) | No | The attributes shown
in this section are based upon and supersede the corresponding older
attributes, Column Name, Title, UDT Database and UDT Name, while
providing additional functionality. The older attributes are retained for compatibility with existing applications. For details, see the topics beginning with Object Name and Title Data in HELP Reports. |
Column SQL Name | VARCHAR(644) | ||
Column Name UEscape | VARCHAR(1) | Yes | |
Dictionary Title | VARCHAR(256) | Yes | |
SQL Title | VARCHAR(1256) | ? | |
Title UEscape | VARCHAR(1) | Yes | |
UDT Database Dictionary Name | VARCHAR(128) | ? | |
UDT Database SQL Name | VARCHAR(644) | ? | |
UDT Database Name UEscape | VARCHAR(1) | Yes | |
UDT Dictionary Name | VARCHAR(128) | No | |
UDT SQL Name | VARCHAR(644) | ||
UDT Name UEscape | VARCHAR(1) | Yes |