Progress 4GL and OpenEdge ABL Data Types

This article describes the data types supported by Progress 4GL and OpenEdge ABL 10.x and earlier.

Progress 4GL Data Types

Data Type	Parameters and Range

Character Data Types
CHARACTER - Fixed-length character data
LONGCHAR - Variable-length character data
Integer Data Types
INTEGER - 32-bit integer data
Fixed-Point Numeric Data Types
DECIMAL - Fixed-pont numeric data
Date and Time Data Types
DATE - Date data type
DATETIME - Date and time data type
DATETIME-TZ - Date and time data type
Other Data Types
HANDLE - Handle (pointer to a resource)
LOGICAL - Boolean data
MEMPTR - Sequence of bytes in memory
RECID - Unique internal identifier of the current database record
ROWID - Unique internal identifier of the current database record

Progress 4GL/ABL - CHARACTER
Syntax	CHARACTER
Data	Variable-length character data
Range	32K
Default Value	Empty string
Notes	Display format limits the maximum number of characters that are displayed. In 4GL/ABL environment, it is allowed to insert data exceeding display format. When the SQL interface is used, Progress, by default, sets the SQL-WIDTH to twice the length of the displayed format. SQL clients (ODBC/JDBC i.e.) cannot insert a value exceeding SQL-WIDTH. To change SQL-WIDTH, use Data Dictionary tool, select a table, select Option Menu, SQL Properties, Adjust Width

Progress 4GL/ABL CHARACTER - Equivalents in Other Databases

Progress 4GL/ABL - LOGICAL
Syntax	LOGICAL
Data	Boolean data
Range	TRUE and FALSE (they are 4GL/ABL keywords). Possible literal values for true state: TRUE and YES. Possible literal values for false state: FALSE and NO

Progress 4GL/ABL LOGICAL - Equivalents in Other Databases

Progress 4GL/ABL - HANDLE
Syntax	HANDLE
Data	Pointer to a handle-based object

Examples:

DEFINE VARIABLE hHandle AS HANDLE NO-UNDO.
hHandle = THIS-PROCEDURE. /* Set a handle to a procedure object */