Data types in dBase
| Data type |
Length |
Description |
| CHAR(precision) |
|
string of fixed length, where n is the number of saved characters. |
| NUMERIC(precision,scale) |
|
Number (range, precision) |
| FLOAT(precision,scale) |
|
Binary numbers with a decimal point, that is available in dBase IV and newer versions. The maximal number that can be written is the size of 20,18 (the size is defined the same way as for the Numeric data type). |
| DATE |
'0000-00-00' |
The date and format where the numbers and characters are separated into days, months and years. The default format is mm/dd/yy, for example 02/20/25 for the 20th of February 2025. The dates in DBF files can also be subtracted. The result of such operation will be the number of days between those days. The number of days can also be added to the date, resulting in a new date occuring after the defined number of days. |
| LOGICAL |
|
data type that corresponds to the yes/no or true/false for each record in the file. This data type is 1 byte long and accepts the following characters: Y, y, N, n, T, t, F, f. |
| MEMO |
|
data type that can be used for storing larger texts. In the record, the memo type array takes up 10 bytes, containing the information that there is a DBT (Data Base Text) existing and containing the array of separate records. The text limit is 64kB. |
precision – (Range) is the complete dimension (i.e. sign, digits to the left of the decimal point, decimal point and digits to the right of the decimal point)
scale – is the decimal precision, i.e. the number of digits to the right of the decimal point (Precision)
Maximum values of
precision and
scale
| dBase version |
precision,scale |
| dBase II |
16,14 |
| dBase III |
19,15 |
| dBase III PLUS |
19,15 |
| dBase IV |
20,18 |
| dBase 5.0 |
20,18 |
See
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms713987(v=vs.85).aspx.