Oracle and DB2, Comparison and Compatibility/Storage Model/Data Types

Overview

Databases store data. That’s what they do. Because of this, each vendor has paid special attention to the data types that they support. Within each database, data types are pretty much nailed down. There’s a ton of information about how the data is stored and how it is handled if it is moved to another column with a different data type.

The tables in the Oracle and DB2 sections are an overview of the data types handled by each database. The tables in each section have information pertinent to the data type within it’s respective DBMS. The table in the summary is the intersection of Oracle and DB2 data types – what is equivalent, and what needs special handling i.e. conversion.