Client systems communicate with Teradata Database using their own external format for numbers and character strings.
Teradata Database converts numbers and strings to its own internal format when importing the data, and converts numbers and strings back to the appropriate form for the client when exporting the data.
This allows data to be exchanged between mutually incompatible client data formats. Take for example, mainframe-attached clients using EBCDIC‑based character sets and workstation-attached clients using ASCII-based character sets. Both clients can access and modify the same data in Teradata Database.