Storage
A PERIOD(TIMESTAMP[(n)] WITH TIME ZONE) is a variable length data type and is saved as two TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE values. The ending bound value of UNTIL_CHANGED occupies a single byte for these variable length data types.
| Element Type | Field Size in bytes | Maximum Size in bytes in the row |
|---|---|---|
| TIMESTAMP(n) WITH TIME ZONE | 24 if ending bound is not UNTIL_CHANGED | 24 if ending bound is not UNTIL_CHANGED |
| 13 if the ending bound is UNTIL_CHANGED | 16 if the ending bound is UNTIL_CHANGED |
External Representation of PERIOD(TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE)
In field mode, Vantage returns PERIOD(TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE) data as character data.
Assume L is the maximum length of the formatted character string for the format associated with this Period data type. The resulting character string contains two strings representing the beginning and ending bounds of the period value expression, each up to length L , and each enclosed in apostrophes ('), separated by comma and a space (,), and then enclosed within a left and right parenthesis [( )]. Thus, the maximum length of the resulting character string is 2* L +8.
Assume the actual length is K which may be less than 2*L+8, for example, if the format includes the full names of months and the specific month for a bound is July.
- Second: 4-byte, signed integer flipped to client form. This integer represents the number of seconds as a scaled decimal (for example, 12.56 seconds is returned as 12560000).
- Year: 2-byte, signed short integer flipped to client form. This integer represents the year value.
- Month: 1 unsigned byte. This byte represents the month value.
- Day: 1 unsigned byte. This byte represents the day of the month.
- Hour: 1 unsigned byte. This byte represents the number of hours.
- Minute: 1 unsigned byte. This byte represents the number of minutes.
- Time Zone Hour: 1 unsigned byte. This byte represents the time zone displacement in hours along with whether the displacement is + or -. A value of 16 represents 0 hours. A value less than 16 represents a negative time zone displacement for the specified hours; that is, if this is 10, the time zone is displaced by -10 hours. If greater than 16, it specifies a positive time zone displacement of (Time Zone Hour - 16) hours; that is, a value of 20 implies a +4 hour displacement.
- Time Zone Minute: 1 unsigned byte. This byte represents the time zone displacement in minutes.
Restrictions
A primary index column or partitioning column cannot be a column that has a Period data type.