SQL Data Type

SQL Data Types

SQL Data Type is an attribute that specifies the type of data of any object. Each column, variable and expression has a related data type in SQL. You can use these data types while creating your tables.

Exact Numeric Data Types

Data Type

   From 

 To

bigint

-9,223,372,036,854,775,808

9,223,372,036,854,775,807

int

-2,147,483,648

2,147,483,647

smallint

-32,768

32,767

tinyint0255
bit01
decimal-10^38 +1
10^38 -1
numeric-10^38 +1
10^38 +1
money
-922,337,203,685,477.5808+922,337,203,685,477.5807
smallmoney
-214,748.3648
+214,748.3647


Approximate Numeric Data Types

Data Type

   From 

 To

float

-1.79E + 308

1.79E + 308

real

-3.40E + 38

3.40E + 38


 Date and Time Data Types

Data Type

   From 

 To

datetime

Jan 1, 1753

9,223,372,036,854,775,807

smalldatetime

Jan 1, 1900

2,147,483,647

time

Stores a date like April 4, 2001

date

Stores a time of day like 12:30 P.M.


Character Strings Data Types

 sl. no

   DATA TYPE & Description

1

char


Maximum length of 8,000 characters.( Fixed length non-Unicode characters)

2

varchar


Maximum of 8,000 characters.(Variable-length non-Unicode data).

3

varchar(max)


Maximum length of 2E + 31 characters, Variable-length non-Unicode data (SQL Server 2005 only).

4

Text


Variable-length non-Unicode data with a maximum length of 2,147,483,647 characters.


Unicode Character Strings Data Types

sl. no

   DATA TYPE & Description

1

nchar


Maximum length of 4,000 characters.( Fixed length Unicode)

2

nvarchar


Maximum length of 4,000 characters.(Variable length Unicode)

3

nvarchar(max)


Maximum length of 2E + 31 characters (SQL Server 2005 only).( Variable length Unicode)

4

ntext


Maximum length of 1,073,741,823 characters. ( Variable length Unicode )


Binary Data Types

sl. no

   DATA TYPE & Description

1

binary


Maximum length of 8,000 bytes(Fixed-length binary data )

2

varbinary


Maximum length of 8,000 bytes.(Variable length binary data)

3

varbinary(max)


Maximum length of 2E + 31 bytes (SQL Server 2005 only). ( Variable length Binary data)

4

image


Maximum length of 2,147,483,647 bytes. ( Variable length Binary Data)


Misc Data Types

sl. no

   DATA TYPE & Description

1

sql_variant


Stores values of various SQL Server-supported data types, except text, ntext, and timestamp.

2

timestamp


Stores a database-wide unique number that gets updated every time a row gets updated

3

uniqueidentifier


Stores a globally unique identifier (GUID)

4

xml


Stores XML data. You can store xml instances in a column or a variable (SQL Server 2005 only).

5

cursor


Reference to a cursor object