Column Data Types Cheat Sheet¶
Introduction¶
This document provides a high-level overview of the different Data Types available when adding or importing columns to a table in Vinyl, what they are, and why you use them.
Data Types¶
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Boolean | A Boolean data type is a Logical Data Type that has one of two possible values, intended to represent the two truth values of logic and Boolean algebra, true or false. |
| Currency | Currency is a Logical Data Type that supports numeric values with decimal places and should be used to store currency values. |
| Date | The Date Logical Data Type is used to store date information with Day, Month, and Year information. |
| Date/Time | The Date/Time Logical Data Type is used to store date and time information with Day, Month and Year, as well as the time in Hours andMinutes. |
| Time | The Time Logical Data Type will store time information in Hours and Minutes. |
| Number | The Number Logical Data Type will store numeric values. Users can use different sizes of integers to save unneeded or allocate extra storage space if their use-case requires it. |
| Decimal | Decimal Logical Data Type is a numeric data type with fixed scale and precision. The data type is useful for storing and doing operations on precise decimal values. |
| Percent | The Percent Logical Data Type functions similarly to the Number/Decimal logical/physical combination but should be used when you wish for the value to be displayed as a percentage in the application. For example: 0.87 will look like 87%. |
| String | The String Logical Data Type will store numbers, text, and special characters. The length is set when creating the column and the physical datatype will default to NVarchar(50), which means it will hold space for 50 characters. |
| Unique ID | The Unique ID Logical Data Type is used to store Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) information. Most commonly, the Physical Data Type of UUID is used; UUID is a 36-character value used to identify information, and in Vinyl we use UUID's to uniquely identify different records stored in Tables. When creating the primary key for a table, it is best to use the Unique ID/UUID Logical and Physical combination. |
| File | The File Logical Data Type is used to store files in a Vinyl table. The Physical Data Type will default to binary but NVarchar is also an option if you want to connect to a separate data source for the files. |
| HTML | Using HTML Logical Data Type will store string values that are intended for use in HTML Control Types within an application. |
| Photo | The Photo Logical Data Type is used for fields where you want to capture, store and display photo image information. |