1  Datatypes
   This table summarizes the characteristics of the Oracle Rdb data
   types.

   Table 1 : Oracle Rdb Data Types

   Oracle Rdb       Corresponding    Size     Range          Other
   Data Type     CPU Data Type             Precision      Parameters

   SIGNED        Signed byte      8 bits   -128 to          n = scale
   BYTE          integer                   127              factor

   SIGNED        Signed word     16 bits   -32768 to        n = scale
   WORD          integer                   32767            factor

   SIGNED        Signed          32 bits   -2**31 to        n = scale
   LONGWORD      longword                  (2**31)-1        factor
                 integer

   SIGNED        Signed          64 bits   -2**63 to        n = scale
   QUADWORD      quadword                  (2**63)-1        factor
                 integer)

   F_FLOATING    F_floating      32 bits   0.29 x 10**(-38)    None
                 Single                    to 1.7 x 10**38
                 precision                 Approximately
                 floating                  seven decimal
                 point number              digits

   G_FLOATING    G_floating      64 bits   0.56 x 10**(-308)   None
                 Extended                  to 0.9 x 10**308
                 precision                 Approximately
                 floating                  15 decimal
                 point number              digits

   DATE          Absolute date   64 bits   Not                 None
                 and time                  applicable

   TEXT          ASCII text      n bytes   0 to 32767        n = number of
                                           characters        characters
                                                             (unsigned
                                                             integer)

   VARYING       Varying         Varies    0 to 32765        n = maximum
   STRING        length ASCII              characters        number of
                 text                                        characters
                                                             (unsigned
                                                             integer)

   SEGMENTED     None            Varies    0 to 64k            None
   STRING                                  bytes per
                                           segment

   Note:         For more information on SEGMENTED STRINGS, request HELP
                 on Segment_str.
 

2  More
   When defining fields using the F_FLOATING data type and
   subsequently comparing a literal value (for example, 99.999) in a
   query with the field values, you must specify the literal value
   in scientific notation (for example, 99.999E0) for the query to
   work. In this way, Oracle Rdb can compare the F_FLOATING literal
   value in the query with the F_FLOATING values for the field for
   each record. This is a clarification of information described in
   the RDO documentation.

   For example, if you try to compare field values defined as F_
   FLOATING data type with the literal 99.999, Oracle Rdb interprets
   the literal 99.999 as a LONGWORD scale -3, and converts both the
   literal and the F_FLOATING field values to G_FLOATING values for
   the comparison. This is required because the precision of an F_
   FLOATING data type is insufficient for all LONGWORD values. The
   problem arises in the conversion from F_FLOATING to G_FLOATING
   data type values. Because the precision of the F_FLOATING data
   type is smaller than that of the G_FLOATING data type, the rules
   for the conversion do not assure that an F_FLOATING data type
   value of 99.999 and a LONGWORD data type value of 99.999 will
   be the same when both are converted to G_FLOATING data type
   values. If you do a comparison with the literal 99.999E0, Oracle Rdb
   interprets this value as an F_FLOATING data type value and the
   comparison works as expected. The following query returns the
   desired result when the field COUPON is defined as an F_FLOATING
   data type.

   FOR A IN SECURITY
           WITH A.COUPON = 99.999E0
       PRINT A.ID
   END_FOR