The following table lists the attributes reported by the HELP METHOD statement:
| Attribute | Data Type | Nullable? | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parameter Name | VARCHAR(30) | No | The name of a parameter for the method specified in the HELP METHOD request. The system returns the set of attributes shown in this table for each parameter. |
| Type | CHARACTER(2) | Yes | The data type for the Parameter Name. See Data Type Codes for a list of the data type codes and their meanings. When DATEFORM=ANSIDATE, this column should be described externally as CHARACTER(10). With an explicit format, DATE. With an implicit format created in INTEGERDATE mode, 'YYYY/MM/DD'. With an implicit format created in ANSIDATE mode, 'YYYY/MM/DD'. Interpret as the equivalent of CF, or CHARACTER(n) data type. |
| Comment | CHARACTER(255) | Yes | The contents of the optional comment field for the method, if a comment was created. |
| Nullable | CHARACTER(1) | Yes | Defines whether the parameter in Parameter Name can be null. |
| Format | CHARACTER(30) | Yes | Returns null if the parameter data type is UDT. This is because the system passes UDTs to routines as handles, not directly as UDT values. The character set for FORMAT is always Unicode regardless of the language support mode for your system and the session character set. See Teradata Vantage™ - SQL External Routine Programming, B035-1147 for details. |
| Max Length | INTEGER Formatted as -(10)9 |
Yes | Returns the length in bytes of the parameter specified by Parameter Name. 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 is more appropriate for these data types. MaxLength is 4, representing the internal storage size. See the external representation for each individual DateTime and Interval type in Teradata Vantage™ - Data Types and Literals, B035-1143 to determine the MaxLength values. |
| Decimal Total Digits | SMALLINT Formatted as -(5)9 |
Yes | If the parameter 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 other TIME and TIMESTAMP data types. |
| Decimal Fractional Digits | SMALLINT Formatted as -(5)9 |
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. The server 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. |
| Table/View? | CHARACTER(1) | No | Object type. The code M defines the object as a method. For other object codes, see TVM Kind Codes. |
| Char Type | SMALLINT Formatted as -(5)9 |
Yes | Returns a code identifying the character data type for the parameter shown in Parameter Name.
If the data type of the column is not character, returns null. |
| Parameter Type | CHARACTER(2) | No | Defines the parameter type.
For a HELP METHOD request, the parameter type is always UDT. |
| UDT Name | VARCHAR(61) | Yes | Returns UDT name if the parameter is a UDT. If the parameter is not a UDT, returns null. |
| Parameter Dictionary Name | VARCHAR(128) | No | The attributes shown in this section are derived from and supersede the corresponding older Parameter Name and UDT Name attributes, while providing additional functionality. These attributes are returned for each parameter in the specified method. The older attributes are retained for compatibility with legacy applications. For details on the new attributes, see the topics beginning with Object Name and Title Data in HELP Reports. |
| Parameter SQL Name | VARCHAR(644) | No | |
| Parameter Name UEscape | VARCHAR(1) | Yes | |
| UDT Dictionary Name | VARCHAR(128) | Yes | |
| UDT SQL Name | VARCHAR(644) | Yes | |
| UDT Name UEscape | VARCHAR(1) | Yes |