Fixed point number

About

This page details the support of numeric/decimal ansi data type.

They are collectively known as fixed point number and are an exact numeric type.

Note that numeric and decimal are 2 names for the same type.

Example

With a DECIMAL(5,2):

• the number has:
  • a precision of 5
  • and a scale of 2
• you would be able to store any value with:
  • 5 digits
  • and 2 fractional decimals
• values can be stored in the range from -999.99 to 999.99.

The number 00123456.780 has:

• a precision of 8 (ie 12345678)
• and a scale of 2 (ie 78)

Syntax

numeric(p,s)
decimal(p,s)

where:

• p is known as the precision and represents the total maximum of digits allowed
• s is the scale and represent the maximum of fractional digits allowed