The following table lists the attributes reported by HELP TYPE with no options:
| Attribute | Data Type | Nullable? | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | VARCHAR(61) | No | The name of the UDT or ARRAY/VARRAY type. |
| Internal Type | CHARACTER(2) | No | A code for the UDT or ARRAY/VARRAY type.
The external type for both A1 and AN internal types is always CV (VARCHAR). |
| External Type | CHARACTER(2) | Yes. | The external data type of the UDT or ARRAY/VARRAY as defined by its fromsql transform. See Data Type Codes for a list of the data type codes and their meanings. A null is reported if the UDT or ARRAY/VARRAY has no fromsql transform defined for it. With an explicit format, DATE is imported and exported according to that format, as indicated in the following bullets.
MaxLength is 4, representing the internal storage size. |
| Max Length | INTEGER Formatted as -(10)9 | Yes | Maximum length of the external type in bytes. For CHARACTER data, Max Length is the length of the column declaration in bytes. For UDTs and ARRAY/VARRAY types, Max Length is the maximum transformed length of the external type associated with the UDT formatted as -(10)9. You can use a CLIv2 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 | Only reported for numeric data types, otherwise is null. 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. Regardless of the underlying data type, ARRAY/VARRAY types always return null for this attribute. |
| Decimal Fractional Digits | SMALLINT | Yes | Only reported for numeric data types, otherwise is null. 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 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. Regardless of the underlying data type, ARRAY/VARRAY types always return null for this attribute. |
| Contains LOB | CHARACTER(1) | No | Records whether the UDT contains BLOB or CLOB predefined data types.
|
| Ordering | CHARACTER(1) | No | Records whether the UDT has a defined ordering.
|
| Ordering Category | CHARACTER(1) | Yes | Records the ordering category for the UDT.
|
| Ordering Routine | VARCHAR(61) | Yes | The type of ordering routine is one of the following:
The column is null if a UDT does not have a defined ordering. |
| Cast | CHARACTER(1) | No | Records whether at least one cast is defined for the UDT.
|
| Transform | CHARACTER(1) | No | Records whether a transform is defined for the UDT or not.
|
| Method | CHARACTER(1) | Yes | Indicates whether methods are associated with this UDT.
Structured UDTs always report Y for this column because of their system-generated instance and mutator methods. No method names are reported with HELP TYPE. To report a complete list of the methods associated with a UDT, use the HELP METHOD statement (see HELP METHOD). |
| Char Type | CHARACTER(1) | No | Returns the character data type for a CHAR or VARCHAR column.
If the data type of the column is not character, returns a null. |
| Array (Y/N) | CHARACTER(1) | No | Whether the UDT is an ARRAY type.
|
| Dimensions | BYTEINT formatted as --9 | Yes | Returns the number of dimensions the ARRAY type has.
|
| Element Type | CHARACTER(2) | Yes | Returns the data type for the ARRAY element. See Data Type Codes for a list of the possible data type codes that can be reported for Element. |
| UDT Name | VARCHAR(61) | Yes | Returns the qualified name of the UDT that is the element type of the ARRAY type if the element type of the array is a UDT. The server character set specification for the column is CHARACTER SET UNICODE UPPERCASE NOT CASESPECIFIC. |
| Array Scope | VARCHAR(3200) formatted as X(45) | Yes | Returns the scope of the array for an ARRAY type in the form [n:m] for a one-dimensional array and [n:m] … [n:m] for a multidimensional array, where n is the lower bound for each dimension of the type and m is the upper bound for each dimension of the type. To see more than 45 characters, use record mode. The server character set specification for the column is CHARACTER SET LATIN UPPERCASE NOT CASESPECIFIC. For a one-dimensional array, the lower bound always begins with 1. The bound ends with m, where m is the maximum cardinality of the array. For a multidimensional array, the string contains the scope information specified for the type when it was created. If explicit lower bounds were not specified for the multidimensional array when it was created, then the lower bound always begins with 1, and ends with m, where m is the maximum cardinality of the array. |
| Dictionary Name | VARCHAR(128) | No | The attributes shown in this section are based upon and supersede the corresponding older Name, Ordering Routine, and UDT Name attributes, while providing additional functionality with several new attributes. 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. |
| SQL Name | VARCHAR(644) | No | |
| Uescape | VARCHAR(1) | Yes | |
| Dictionary Ordering Routine Database | VARCHAR(128) | Yes | |
| SQL Ordering Routine Database | VARCHAR(644) | Yes | |
| Ordering Routine Database Uescape | VARCHAR(1) | Yes | |
| Dictionary Ordering Routine | VARCHAR(128) | Yes | |
| SQL Ordering Routine | VARCHAR(644) | Yes | |
| Ordering Routine Uescape | VARCHAR(1) | Yes | |
| UDT Database Dictionary Name | VARCHAR(128) | Yes | |
| UDT Database SQL Name | VARCHAR(644) | Yes | |
| UDT Database Name Uescape | VARCHAR(1) | Yes | |
| UDT Dictionary Name | VARCHAR(128) | Yes | |
| UDT SQL Name | VARCHAR(644) | Yes | |
| UDT Uescape | VARCHAR(1) | Yes |