SQLGetTypeInfo

Conformance

Version Introduced: ODBC 1.0
Standards Compliance: ISO 92

Summary

SQLGetTypeInfo returns information about data types supported by the data source. The driver returns the information in the form of an SQL result set. The data types are intended for use in Data Definition Language (DDL) statements.

Important Applications must use the type names returned in the TYPE_NAME column of the SQLGetTypeInfo result set in ALTER TABLE and CREATE TABLE statements. SQLGetTypeInfo may return more than one row with the same value in the DATA_TYPE column.

Syntax

SQLRETURN SQLGetTypeInfo(
SQLHSTMT StatementHandle,
SQLSMALLINT DataType);

Arguments

StatementHandle [Input]
Statement handle for the result set.

DataType [Input]
The SQL data type. This must be one of the values in the “SQL Data Types” section of Appendix D, “Data Types,” or a driver-specific SQL data type. SQL_ALL_TYPES specifies that information about all data types should be returned.

Returns

SQL_SUCCESS, SQL_SUCCESS_WITH_INFO, SQL_STILL_EXECUTING, SQL_ERROR, or SQL_INVALID_HANDLE.

Diagnostics

When SQLGetTypeInfo returns SQL_ERROR or SQL_SUCCESS_WITH_INFO, an associated SQLSTATE value may be obtained by calling SQLGetDiagRec with a HandleType of SQL_HANDLE_STMT and a Handle of StatementHandle. The following table lists the SQLSTATE values commonly returned by SQLGetTypeInfo and explains each one in the context of this function; the notation “(DM)” precedes the descriptions of SQLSTATEs returned by the Driver Manager. The return code associated with each SQLSTATE value is SQL_ERROR, unless noted otherwise.

SQLSTATE
Error
Description

01000
General warning
Driver specific informational message. (Function returns SQL_SUCCESS_WITH_INFO.)
01S02
Option value changed
A specified statement attribute was invalid because of implementation working conditions, so a similar value was temporarily substituted. (SQLGetStmtAttr can be called to determine what the temporarily substituted value is.) The substitute value is valid for the StatementHandle until the cursor is closed. The statement attributes that can be changed are: SQL_ATTR_CONCURRENCY, SQL_ATTR_CURSOR_TYPE, SQL_ATTR_KEYSET_SIZE, SQL_ATTR_MAX_LENGTH, SQL_ATTR_MAX_ROWS, SQL_ATTR_QUERY_TIMEOUT, and SQL_ATTR_SIMULATE_CURSOR. (Function returns SQL_SUCCESS_WITH_INFO.)
08S01
Communication link failure
The communication link between the driver and the data source to which the driver was connected failed before the function completed processing.
24000
Invalid cursor state
A cursor was open on the StatementHandle and SQLFetch or SQLFetchScroll had been called. This error is returned by the Driver Manager if SQLFetch or SQLFetchScroll has not returned SQL_NO_DATA, and is returned by the driver if SQLFetch or SQLFetchScroll has returned SQL_NO_DATA.
A result set was open on the StatementHandle but SQLFetch or SQLFetchScroll had not been called.
40001
Serialization failure
The transaction was rolled back due to a resource deadlock with another transaction.
40003
Statement completion unknown
The associated connection failed during the execution of this function and the state of the transaction cannot be determined.
HY000
General error
An error occurred for which there was no specific SQLSTATE and for which no implementation-specific SQLSTATE was defined. The error message returned by SQLGetDiagRec in the *MessageText buffer describes the error and its cause.
HY001
Memory allocation error
The driver was unable to allocate memory required to support execution or completion of the function.
HY004
Invalid SQL data type
The value specified for the argument DataType was neither a valid ODBC SQL data type identifier nor a driver-specific data type identifier supported by the driver.
HY008
Operation canceled
Asynchronous processing was enabled for the StatementHandle, then the function was called and, before it completed execution, SQLCancel was called on the StatementHandle. Then the function was called again on the StatementHandle.
The function was called and, before it completed execution, SQLCancel was called on the StatementHandle from a different thread in a multithread application.
HY010
Function sequence error
(DM) An asynchronously executing function (not this one) was called for the StatementHandle and was still executing when this function was called.
(DM) SQLExecute, SQLExecDirect, SQLBulkOperations, or SQLSetPos was called for the StatementHandle and returned SQL_NEED_DATA. This function was called before data was sent for all data-at-execution parameters or columns.
HY013
Memory management error
The function call could not be processed because the underlying memory objects could not be accessed, possibly because of low memory conditions.
HYC00
Optional feature not implemented
The value specified for the argument DataType was a valid ODBC SQL data type identifier for the version of ODBC supported by the driver, but was not supported by the driver or data source.
The combination of the current settings of the SQL_ATTR_CONCURRENCY and SQL_ATTR_CURSOR_TYPE statement attributes was not supported by the driver or data source.
The SQL_ATTR_USE_BOOKMARKS statement attribute was set to SQL_UB_VARIABLE, and the SQL_ATTR_CURSOR_TYPE statement attribute was set to a cursor type for which the driver does not support bookmarks.
HYT00
Timeout expired
The query timeout period expired before the data source returned the result set. The timeout period is set through SQLSetStmtAttr, SQL_ATTR_QUERY_TIMEOUT.
HYT01
Connection timeout expired
The connection timeout period expired before the data source responded to the request. The connection timeout period is set through SQLSetConnectAttr, SQL_ATTR_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT.
IM001
Driver does not support this function
(DM) The driver corresponding to the StatementHandle does not support the function.

Comments

SQLGetTypeInfo returns the results as a standard result set, ordered by DATA_TYPE and then by how closely the data type maps to the corresponding ODBC SQL data type. Data types defined by the data source take precedence over user-defined data types. For example, suppose that a data source defined INTEGER and COUNTER data types, where COUNTER is auto-incrementing, and that a user-defined data type WHOLENUM has also been defined. These would be returned in the order INTEGER, WHOLENUM, and COUNTER, because WHOLENUM maps closely to the ODBC SQL data type SQL_INTEGER, while the auto-incrementing data type, even though supported by the data source, does not map closely to an ODBC SQL data type. For information about how this information might be used, see “DDL Statements” in Chapter 8, “SQL Statements.”

Note For more information about the general use, arguments, and returned data of ODBC catalog functions, see Chapter 7, “Catalog Functions.”

The following columns have been renamed for ODBC 3.0. The column name changes do not affect backward compatibility because applications bind by column number.

ODBC 2.0 column
ODBC 3.0 column

PRECISION
COLUMN_SIZE
MONEY
FIXED_PREC_SCALE
AUTO_INCREMENT
AUTO_UNIQUE_VALUE

The following columns have been added to the results set returned by SQLGetTypeInfo for ODBC 3.0:

SQL_DATA_TYPE
INTERVAL_PRECISION
SQL_DATETIME_SUB
NUM_PREC_RADIX

The following table lists the columns in the result set. Additional columns beyond column 19 (INTERVAL_PRECISION) can be defined by the driver. An application should gain access to driver-specific columns by counting down from the end of the result set rather than specifying an explicit ordinal position. For more information, see “Data Returned by Catalog Functions” in Chapter 7, “Catalog Functions.”

Note SQLGetTypeInfo might not return all data types. For example, a driver might not return user-defined data types. Applications can use any valid data type, regardless of whether it is returned by SQLGetTypeInfo.

The data types returned by SQLGetTypeInfo are those supported by the data source. They are intended for use in Data Definition Language (DDL) statements. Drivers can return result set data using data types other than the types returned by SQLGetTypeInfo. In creating the result set for a catalog function, the driver might use a data type that is not supported by the data source.

Column name
Column number
Data type
Comments

TYPE_NAME
(ODBC 2.0)
1
Varchar
not NULL
Data source–dependent data type name; for example, “CHAR(),” “VARCHAR(),” MONEY,” “LONG VARBINARY,” or “CHAR ( ) FOR BIT DATA.” Applications must use this name in CREATE TABLE and ALTER TABLE statements.
DATA_TYPE
(ODBC 2.0)
2
Smallint
not NULL
SQL data type. This can be an ODBC SQL data type or a driver-specific SQL data type. For datetime or interval data types, this column returns the concise data type (such as SQL_TYPE_TIME or SQL_INTERVAL_YEAR_TO_MONTH). For a list of valid ODBC SQL data types, see “SQL Data Types” in Appendix D, “Data Types.” For information about driver-specific SQL data types, see the driver’s documentation.
COLUMN_SIZE
(ODBC 2.0)
3
Integer
The maximum column size that the server supports for this data type. For numeric data, this is the maximum precision. For string data, this is the length in characters. For datetime data types, this is the length in characters of the string representation (assuming the maximum allowed precision of the fractional seconds component.) NULL is returned for data types where column size is not applicable. For interval data types, this is the number of characters in the character representation of the interval literal (as defined by the interval leading precision, see “Interval Data Type Length” in Appendix D, “Data Types”).
For more information on column size, see “Column Size, Decimal Digits, Transfer Octet Length, and Display Size” in Appendix D, “Data Types.”
LITERAL_PREFIX
(ODBC 2.0)
4
Varchar
Character or characters used to prefix a literal; for example, a single quotation mark (') for character data types or 0x for binary data types; NULL is returned for data types where a literal prefix is not applicable.
LITERAL_SUFFIX
(ODBC 2.0)
5
Varchar
Character or characters used to terminate a literal; for example, a single quotation mark (') for character data types; NULL is returned for data types where a literal suffix is not applicable.
CREATE_PARAMS
(ODBC 2.0)
6
Varchar
A list of keywords, separated by commas, corresponding to each parameter that the application may specify in parentheses when using the name that is returned in the TYPE_NAME field. The keywords in the list can be any of the following: length, precision, scale. They appear in the order that the syntax requires that they be used. For example, CREATE_PARAMS for DECIMAL would be precision,scale”; CREATE_PARAMS for VARCHAR would equal “length.” NULL is returned if there are no parameters for the data type definition, for example INTEGER.
The driver supplies the CREATE_PARAMS text in the language of the country where it is used.
NULLABLE
(ODBC 2.0)
7
Smallint
not NULL
Whether the data type accepts a NULL value:
SQL_NO_NULLS if the data type does not accept NULL values.
SQL_NULLABLE if the data type accepts NULL values.
SQL_NULLABLE_UNKNOWN if it is not known whether the column accepts NULL values.
CASE_SENSITIVE
(ODBC 2.0)
8
Smallint
not NULL
Whether a character data type is case-sensitive in collations and comparisons:
SQL_TRUE if the data type is a character data type and is case-sensitive.
SQL_FALSE if the data type is not a character data type or is not case-sensitive.
SEARCHABLE
(ODBC 2.0)
9
Smallint
not NULL
How the data type is used in a WHERE clause:
SQL_PRED_NONE if the column cannot be used in a WHERE clause. (This is the same as the SQL_UNSEARCHABLE value in ODBC 2.x.)
SQL_PRED_CHAR if the column can be used in a WHERE clause, but only with the LIKE predicate. (This is the same as the SQL_LIKE_ONLY value in ODBC 2.x.)
SQL_PRED_BASIC if the column can be used in a WHERE clause with all the comparison operators except LIKE (comparison, quantified comparison, BETWEEN, DISTINCT, IN, MATCH, and UNIQUE). (This is the same as the SQL_ALL_EXCEPT_LIKE value in ODBC 2.x.)
SQL_SEARCHABLE if the column can be used in a WHERE clause with any comparison operator.
UNSIGNED_
ATTRIBUTE
(ODBC 2.0)
10
Smallint
Whether the data type is unsigned:
SQL_TRUE if the data type is unsigned.
SQL_FALSE if the data type is signed.
NULL is returned if the attribute is not applicable to the data type or the data type is not numeric.
FIXED_PREC_SCALE
(ODBC 2.0)
11
Smallint
not NULL
Whether the data type has predefined fixed precision and scale (which are data source–specific), like a money data type:
SQL_TRUE if it has predefined fixed precision and scale.
SQL_FALSE if it does not have predefined fixed precision and scale.
AUTO_UNIQUE_
VALUE
(ODBC 2.0)
12
Smallint
Whether the data type is autoincrementing:
SQL_TRUE if the data type is autoincrementing.
SQL_FALSE if the data type is not autoincrementing.
NULL is returned if the attribute is not applicable to the data type or the data type is not numeric.
An application can insert values into a column having this attribute, but typically cannot update the values in the column.
When an insert is made into an auto-increment column, a unique value is inserted into the column at insert time. The increment is not defined, but is data source–specific. An application should not assume that an auto-increment column starts at any particular point or increments by any particular value.
LOCAL_TYPE_NAME
(ODBC 2.0)
13
Varchar
Localized version of the data source–dependent name of the data type. NULL is returned if a localized name is not supported by the data source. This name is intended for display only, such as in dialog boxes.
MINIMUM_SCALE
(ODBC 2.0)
14
Smallint
The minimum scale of the data type on the data source. If a data type has a fixed scale, the MINIMUM_SCALE and MAXIMUM_SCALE columns both contain this value. For example, an SQL_TYPE_TIMESTAMP column might have a fixed scale for fractional seconds. NULL is returned where scale is not applicable. For more information, see “Column Size, Decimal Digits, Transfer Octet Length, and Display Size” in Appendix D, “Data Types.”
MAXIMUM_SCALE
(ODBC 2.0)
15
Smallint
The maximum scale of the data type on the data source. NULL is returned where scale is not applicable. If the maximum scale is not defined separately on the data source, but is instead defined to be the same as the maximum precision, this column contains the same value as the COLUMN_SIZE column. For more information, see “Column Size, Decimal Digits, Transfer Octet Length, and Display Size” in Appendix D, “Data Types.”
SQL_DATA_TYPE
(ODBC 3.0)
16
Smallint NOT NULL
The value of the SQL data type as it appears in the SQL_DESC_TYPE field of the descriptor. This column is the same as the DATA_TYPE column, except for interval and datetime data types.
For interval and datetime data types, the SQL_DATA_TYPE field in the result set will return SQL_INTERVAL or SQL_DATETIME, and the SQL_DATETIME_SUB field will return the subcode for the specific interval or datetime data type (see Appendix D, “Data Types”).
SQL_DATETIME_
SUB
(ODBC 3.0)
17
Smallint
When the value of SQL_DATA_TYPE is SQL_DATETIME or SQL_INTERVAL, this column contains the datetime/interval subcode. For data types other than datetime and interval, this field is NULL.
For interval or datetime data types, the SQL_DATA_TYPE field in the result set will return SQL_INTERVAL or SQL_DATETIME, and the SQL_DATETIME_SUB field will return the subcode for the specific interval or datetime data type (see Appendix D, “Data Types”).
NUM_PREC_RADIX
(ODBC 3.0)
18
Integer
If the data type is an approximate numeric type, this column contains the value 2 to indicate that COLUMN_SIZE specifies a number of bits. For exact numeric types, this column contains the value 10 to indicate that COLUMN_SIZE specifies a number of decimal digits. Otherwise, this column is NULL.
INTERVAL_
PRECISION
(ODBC 3.0)
19
Smallint
If the data type is an interval data type, then this column contains the value of the interval leading precision (see “Interval Data Type Precision” in Appendix D, “Data Types.” Otherwise, this column is NULL.

Attribute information can apply to data types or to specific columns in a result set. SQLGetTypeInfo returns information about attributes associated with data types; SQLColAttribute returns information about attributes associated with columns in a result set.

Related Functions

For information about
See

Binding a buffer to a column in a result set
SQLBindCol
Canceling statement processing
SQLCancel
Returning information about a column in a result set
SQLColAttribute
Fetching a block of data or scrolling through a result set
SQLFetchScroll
Fetching a single row or a block of data in a forward-only direction
SQLFetch
Returning information about a driver or data source
SQLGetInfo

01000	General warning	Driver specific informational message. (Function returns SQL_SUCCESS_WITH_INFO.)
01S02	Option value changed	A specified statement attribute was invalid because of implementation working conditions, so a similar value was temporarily substituted. (SQLGetStmtAttr can be called to determine what the temporarily substituted value is.) The substitute value is valid for the StatementHandle until the cursor is closed. The statement attributes that can be changed are: SQL_ATTR_CONCURRENCY, SQL_ATTR_CURSOR_TYPE, SQL_ATTR_KEYSET_SIZE, SQL_ATTR_MAX_LENGTH, SQL_ATTR_MAX_ROWS, SQL_ATTR_QUERY_TIMEOUT, and SQL_ATTR_SIMULATE_CURSOR. (Function returns SQL_SUCCESS_WITH_INFO.)
08S01	Communication link failure	The communication link between the driver and the data source to which the driver was connected failed before the function completed processing.
24000	Invalid cursor state	A cursor was open on the StatementHandle and SQLFetch or SQLFetchScroll had been called. This error is returned by the Driver Manager if SQLFetch or SQLFetchScroll has not returned SQL_NO_DATA, and is returned by the driver if SQLFetch or SQLFetchScroll has returned SQL_NO_DATA. A result set was open on the StatementHandle but SQLFetch or SQLFetchScroll had not been called.
40001	Serialization failure	The transaction was rolled back due to a resource deadlock with another transaction.
40003	Statement completion unknown	The associated connection failed during the execution of this function and the state of the transaction cannot be determined.
HY000	General error	An error occurred for which there was no specific SQLSTATE and for which no implementation-specific SQLSTATE was defined. The error message returned by SQLGetDiagRec in the *MessageText buffer describes the error and its cause.
HY001	Memory allocation error	The driver was unable to allocate memory required to support execution or completion of the function.
HY004	Invalid SQL data type	The value specified for the argument DataType was neither a valid ODBC SQL data type identifier nor a driver-specific data type identifier supported by the driver.
HY008	Operation canceled	Asynchronous processing was enabled for the StatementHandle, then the function was called and, before it completed execution, SQLCancel was called on the StatementHandle. Then the function was called again on the StatementHandle. The function was called and, before it completed execution, SQLCancel was called on the StatementHandle from a different thread in a multithread application.
HY010	Function sequence error	(DM) An asynchronously executing function (not this one) was called for the StatementHandle and was still executing when this function was called. (DM) SQLExecute, SQLExecDirect, SQLBulkOperations, or SQLSetPos was called for the StatementHandle and returned SQL_NEED_DATA. This function was called before data was sent for all data-at-execution parameters or columns.
HY013	Memory management error	The function call could not be processed because the underlying memory objects could not be accessed, possibly because of low memory conditions.
HYC00	Optional feature not implemented	The value specified for the argument DataType was a valid ODBC SQL data type identifier for the version of ODBC supported by the driver, but was not supported by the driver or data source. The combination of the current settings of the SQL_ATTR_CONCURRENCY and SQL_ATTR_CURSOR_TYPE statement attributes was not supported by the driver or data source. The SQL_ATTR_USE_BOOKMARKS statement attribute was set to SQL_UB_VARIABLE, and the SQL_ATTR_CURSOR_TYPE statement attribute was set to a cursor type for which the driver does not support bookmarks.
HYT00	Timeout expired	The query timeout period expired before the data source returned the result set. The timeout period is set through SQLSetStmtAttr, SQL_ATTR_QUERY_TIMEOUT.
HYT01	Connection timeout expired	The connection timeout period expired before the data source responded to the request. The connection timeout period is set through SQLSetConnectAttr, SQL_ATTR_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT.
IM001	Driver does not support this function	(DM) The driver corresponding to the StatementHandle does not support the function.

PRECISION	COLUMN_SIZE
MONEY	FIXED_PREC_SCALE
AUTO_INCREMENT	AUTO_UNIQUE_VALUE

SQL_DATA_TYPE	INTERVAL_PRECISION
SQL_DATETIME_SUB	NUM_PREC_RADIX

TYPE_NAME (ODBC 2.0)	1	Varchar not NULL	Data source–dependent data type name; for example, “CHAR(),” “VARCHAR(),” MONEY,” “LONG VARBINARY,” or “CHAR ( ) FOR BIT DATA.” Applications must use this name in CREATE TABLE and ALTER TABLE statements.
DATA_TYPE (ODBC 2.0)	2	Smallint not NULL	SQL data type. This can be an ODBC SQL data type or a driver-specific SQL data type. For datetime or interval data types, this column returns the concise data type (such as SQL_TYPE_TIME or SQL_INTERVAL_YEAR_TO_MONTH). For a list of valid ODBC SQL data types, see “SQL Data Types” in Appendix D, “Data Types.” For information about driver-specific SQL data types, see the driver’s documentation.
COLUMN_SIZE (ODBC 2.0)	3	Integer	The maximum column size that the server supports for this data type. For numeric data, this is the maximum precision. For string data, this is the length in characters. For datetime data types, this is the length in characters of the string representation (assuming the maximum allowed precision of the fractional seconds component.) NULL is returned for data types where column size is not applicable. For interval data types, this is the number of characters in the character representation of the interval literal (as defined by the interval leading precision, see “Interval Data Type Length” in Appendix D, “Data Types”). For more information on column size, see “Column Size, Decimal Digits, Transfer Octet Length, and Display Size” in Appendix D, “Data Types.”
LITERAL_PREFIX (ODBC 2.0)	4	Varchar	Character or characters used to prefix a literal; for example, a single quotation mark (') for character data types or 0x for binary data types; NULL is returned for data types where a literal prefix is not applicable.
LITERAL_SUFFIX (ODBC 2.0)	5	Varchar	Character or characters used to terminate a literal; for example, a single quotation mark (') for character data types; NULL is returned for data types where a literal suffix is not applicable.
CREATE_PARAMS (ODBC 2.0)	6	Varchar	A list of keywords, separated by commas, corresponding to each parameter that the application may specify in parentheses when using the name that is returned in the TYPE_NAME field. The keywords in the list can be any of the following: length, precision, scale. They appear in the order that the syntax requires that they be used. For example, CREATE_PARAMS for DECIMAL would be precision,scale”; CREATE_PARAMS for VARCHAR would equal “length.” NULL is returned if there are no parameters for the data type definition, for example INTEGER. The driver supplies the CREATE_PARAMS text in the language of the country where it is used.
NULLABLE (ODBC 2.0)	7	Smallint not NULL	Whether the data type accepts a NULL value: SQL_NO_NULLS if the data type does not accept NULL values. SQL_NULLABLE if the data type accepts NULL values. SQL_NULLABLE_UNKNOWN if it is not known whether the column accepts NULL values.
CASE_SENSITIVE (ODBC 2.0)	8	Smallint not NULL	Whether a character data type is case-sensitive in collations and comparisons: SQL_TRUE if the data type is a character data type and is case-sensitive. SQL_FALSE if the data type is not a character data type or is not case-sensitive.

SEARCHABLE (ODBC 2.0)	9	Smallint not NULL	How the data type is used in a WHERE clause: SQL_PRED_NONE if the column cannot be used in a WHERE clause. (This is the same as the SQL_UNSEARCHABLE value in ODBC 2.x.) SQL_PRED_CHAR if the column can be used in a WHERE clause, but only with the LIKE predicate. (This is the same as the SQL_LIKE_ONLY value in ODBC 2.x.) SQL_PRED_BASIC if the column can be used in a WHERE clause with all the comparison operators except LIKE (comparison, quantified comparison, BETWEEN, DISTINCT, IN, MATCH, and UNIQUE). (This is the same as the SQL_ALL_EXCEPT_LIKE value in ODBC 2.x.) SQL_SEARCHABLE if the column can be used in a WHERE clause with any comparison operator.
UNSIGNED_ ATTRIBUTE (ODBC 2.0)	10	Smallint	Whether the data type is unsigned: SQL_TRUE if the data type is unsigned. SQL_FALSE if the data type is signed. NULL is returned if the attribute is not applicable to the data type or the data type is not numeric.
FIXED_PREC_SCALE (ODBC 2.0)	11	Smallint not NULL	Whether the data type has predefined fixed precision and scale (which are data source–specific), like a money data type: SQL_TRUE if it has predefined fixed precision and scale. SQL_FALSE if it does not have predefined fixed precision and scale.
AUTO_UNIQUE_ VALUE (ODBC 2.0)	12	Smallint	Whether the data type is autoincrementing: SQL_TRUE if the data type is autoincrementing. SQL_FALSE if the data type is not autoincrementing. NULL is returned if the attribute is not applicable to the data type or the data type is not numeric. An application can insert values into a column having this attribute, but typically cannot update the values in the column. When an insert is made into an auto-increment column, a unique value is inserted into the column at insert time. The increment is not defined, but is data source–specific. An application should not assume that an auto-increment column starts at any particular point or increments by any particular value.
LOCAL_TYPE_NAME (ODBC 2.0)	13	Varchar	Localized version of the data source–dependent name of the data type. NULL is returned if a localized name is not supported by the data source. This name is intended for display only, such as in dialog boxes.

MINIMUM_SCALE (ODBC 2.0)	14	Smallint	The minimum scale of the data type on the data source. If a data type has a fixed scale, the MINIMUM_SCALE and MAXIMUM_SCALE columns both contain this value. For example, an SQL_TYPE_TIMESTAMP column might have a fixed scale for fractional seconds. NULL is returned where scale is not applicable. For more information, see “Column Size, Decimal Digits, Transfer Octet Length, and Display Size” in Appendix D, “Data Types.”
MAXIMUM_SCALE (ODBC 2.0)	15	Smallint	The maximum scale of the data type on the data source. NULL is returned where scale is not applicable. If the maximum scale is not defined separately on the data source, but is instead defined to be the same as the maximum precision, this column contains the same value as the COLUMN_SIZE column. For more information, see “Column Size, Decimal Digits, Transfer Octet Length, and Display Size” in Appendix D, “Data Types.”
SQL_DATA_TYPE (ODBC 3.0)	16	Smallint NOT NULL	The value of the SQL data type as it appears in the SQL_DESC_TYPE field of the descriptor. This column is the same as the DATA_TYPE column, except for interval and datetime data types. For interval and datetime data types, the SQL_DATA_TYPE field in the result set will return SQL_INTERVAL or SQL_DATETIME, and the SQL_DATETIME_SUB field will return the subcode for the specific interval or datetime data type (see Appendix D, “Data Types”).
SQL_DATETIME_ SUB (ODBC 3.0)	17	Smallint	When the value of SQL_DATA_TYPE is SQL_DATETIME or SQL_INTERVAL, this column contains the datetime/interval subcode. For data types other than datetime and interval, this field is NULL. For interval or datetime data types, the SQL_DATA_TYPE field in the result set will return SQL_INTERVAL or SQL_DATETIME, and the SQL_DATETIME_SUB field will return the subcode for the specific interval or datetime data type (see Appendix D, “Data Types”).
NUM_PREC_RADIX (ODBC 3.0)	18	Integer	If the data type is an approximate numeric type, this column contains the value 2 to indicate that COLUMN_SIZE specifies a number of bits. For exact numeric types, this column contains the value 10 to indicate that COLUMN_SIZE specifies a number of decimal digits. Otherwise, this column is NULL.
INTERVAL_ PRECISION (ODBC 3.0)	19	Smallint	If the data type is an interval data type, then this column contains the value of the interval leading precision (see “Interval Data Type Precision” in Appendix D, “Data Types.” Otherwise, this column is NULL.

Binding a buffer to a column in a result set	SQLBindCol
Canceling statement processing	SQLCancel
Returning information about a column in a result set	SQLColAttribute
Fetching a block of data or scrolling through a result set	SQLFetchScroll
Fetching a single row or a block of data in a forward-only direction	SQLFetch
Returning information about a driver or data source	SQLGetInfo