Re: Using numeric(p) vs integer

["Shulzhenko Vasyl" <vasilis@softline.kiev.ua>]

In article <7etib0$8j2$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com>,  <jvnet@excite.com> wrote:
>I'm an Informix newbie.  Ant help would be appreciated.  I'm running 7.22 on
>NT 4.0.  I have a field in a table which holds a value up to 10 digits.  This
>is defined as "numeric(10)".  Is there any advantage to utilizing this data
>type versus using a data type of "integer" instead?

From the Informix Guide to SQL:  Reference, Version 7.2, page 3-16:
--
The INTEGER data type stores whole numbers that range from -2,147,483,647
to 2,147,483,647. The maximum negative number, -2,147,483,648, is a
reserved value and cannot be used. The INTEGER data type is stored as a
signed binary integer and is typically used to store counts, quantities, and so
on.
--

INTEGER can be interpreted as 32-bit unsigned data, with one caveat:
there's a hole at 2,147,483,648.  That number is not representable with
an INTEGER type, since this value is reserved to represent a NULL.

NUMERIC(10) gives you the range -9,999,999,999 to 9,999,999,999 without
any such holes.

   Jim

-- 
W. Jim Jordan, Nortel Networks, Stop 313 Qualicum, 
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