Integration Services Data Types

Applies to: SQL Server SSIS Integration Runtime in Azure Data Factory

When data enters a data flow in a package, the source that extracts the data converts the data to an Integration Services data type. Numeric data is assigned a numeric data type, string data is assigned a character data type, and dates are assigned a date data type. Other data, such as GUIDs and Binary Large Object Blocks (BLOBs), are also assigned appropriate Integration Services data types. If data has a data type that is not convertible to an Integration Services data type, an error occurs.

Some data flow components convert data types between the Integration Services data types and the managed data types of the Microsoft .NET Framework. For more information about the mapping between Integration Services and managed data types, see Working with Data Types in the Data Flow.

The following table lists the Integration Services data types. Some of the data types in the table have precision and scale information that applies to them. For more information about precision and scale, see Precision, Scale, and Length (Transact-SQL).

Data type Description
DT_BOOL A Boolean value.
DT_BYTES A binary data value. The length is variable and the maximum length is 8000 bytes.
DT_CY A currency value. This data type is an eight-byte signed integer with a scale of 4 and a maximum precision of 19 digits.
DT_DATE A date structure that consists of year, month, day, hour, minute, seconds, and fractional seconds. The fractional seconds have a fixed scale of 7 digits.

The DT_DATE data type is implemented using an 8-byte floating-point number. Days are represented by whole number increments, starting with 30 December 1899, and midnight as time zero. Hour values are expressed as the absolute value of the fractional part of the number. However, a floating point value cannot represent all real values; therefore, there are limits on the range of dates that can be presented in DT_DATE.

On the other hand, DT_DBTIMESTAMP is represented by a structure that internally has individual fields for year, month, day, hours, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds. This data type has larger limits on ranges of the dates it can present.
DT_DBDATE A date structure that consists of year, month, and day.
DT_DBTIME A time structure that consists of hour, minute, and second.
DT_DBTIME2 A time structure that consists of hour, minute, second, and fractional seconds. The fractional seconds have a maximum scale of 7 digits.
DT_DBTIMESTAMP A timestamp structure that consists of year, month, day, hour, minute, second, and fractional seconds. The fractional seconds have a maximum scale of 3 digits.
DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 A timestamp structure that consists of year, month, day, hour, minute, second, and fractional seconds. The fractional seconds have a maximum scale of 7 digits.
DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET A timestamp structure that consists of year, month, day, hour, minute, second, and fractional seconds. The fractional seconds have a maximum scale of 7 digits.

Unlike the DT_DBTIMESTAMP and DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 data types, the DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data type has a time zone offset. This offset specifies the number of hours and minutes that the time is offset from the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The time zone offset is used by the system to obtain the local time.

The time zone offset must include a sign, plus or minus, to indicate whether the offset is added or subtracted from the UTC. The valid number of hours offset is between -14 and +14. The sign for the minute offset depends on the sign for the hour offset:

If the sign of the hour offset is negative, the minute offset must be negative or zero.

If the sign for the hour offset is positive, the minute offset must be positive or zero.

If the sign for the hour offset is zero, the minute offset can be any value from negative 0.59 to positive 0.59.
DT_DECIMAL An exact numeric value with a fixed precision and a fixed scale. This data type is a 12-byte unsigned integer with a separate sign, a scale of 0 to 28, and a maximum precision of 29.
DT_FILETIME A 64-bit value that represents the number of 100-nanosecond intervals since January 1, 1601. The fractional seconds have a maximum scale of 3 digits.
DT_GUID A globally unique identifier (GUID).
DT_I1 A one-byte, signed integer.
DT_I2 A two-byte, signed integer.
DT_I4 A four-byte, signed integer.
DT_I8 An eight-byte, signed integer.
DT_NUMERIC An exact numeric value with a fixed precision and scale. This data type is a 16-byte unsigned integer with a separate sign, a scale of 0 - 38, and a maximum precision of 38.
DT_R4 A single-precision floating-point value.
DT_R8 A double-precision floating-point value.
DT_STR A null-terminated ANSI/MBCS character string with a maximum length of 8000 characters. (If a column value contains additional null terminators, the string will be truncated at the occurrence of the first null.)
DT_UI1 A one-byte, unsigned integer.
DT_UI2 A two-byte, unsigned integer.
DT_UI4 A four-byte, unsigned integer.
DT_UI8 An eight-byte, unsigned integer.
DT_WSTR A null-terminated Unicode character string with a maximum length of 4000 characters. (If a column value contains additional null terminators, the string will be truncated at the occurrence of the first null.)
DT_IMAGE A binary value with a maximum size of 2^31-1 (2,147,483,647) bytes. .
DT_NTEXT A Unicode character string with a maximum length of 2^30 - 1 (1,073,741,823) characters.
DT_TEXT An ANSI/MBCS character string with a maximum length of 2^31-1 (2,147,483,647) characters.

Conversion of Data Types

If the data in a column does not require the full width allocated by the source data type, you might want to change the data type of the column. Making each data row as narrow as possible helps optimize performance when transferring data because the narrower each row is, the faster the data is moved from source to destination.

Integration Services includes a complete set of numeric data types, so that you can match the data type closely to the size of the data. For example, if the values in a column with a DT_UI8 data type are always integers between 0 and 3000, you can change the data type to DT_UI2. Similarly, if a column with the DT_CY data type can meet the package data requirements by using an integer data type instead, you can change the data type to DT_I4.

You can change the data type of a column in the following ways:

Converting Between Strings and Date/Time Data Types

The following table lists the results of casting or converting between date/time data types and strings:

  • When you use the cast operator or the Data Conversion transformation, the date or time type data type will be converted to the corresponding string format. For example, the DT_DBTIME data type will be converted to a string that has the format, "hh:mm:ss".

  • When you want to convert from a string to a date or time data type, the string must use the string format that corresponds to the appropriate date or time data type. For example, to successfully convert some date strings to the DT_DBDATE data type, these date strings must be in the format, "yyyy-mm-dd".

    Data type String format
    DT_DBDATE yyyy-mm-dd
    DT_FILETIME yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss:fff
    DT_DBTIME hh:mm:ss
    DT_DBTIME2 hh:mm:ss[.fffffff]
    DT_DBTIMESTAMP yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss[.fff]
    DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss[.fffffff]
    DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss[.fffffff] [{+|-} hh:mm]

In the format for DT_FILETIME and DT_DBTIMESTAMP fff is a value between 0 and 999 that represents fractional seconds.

In the date format for DT_DBTIMESTAMP2, DT_DBTIME2, and DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET, fffffff is a value between 0 and 9999999 that represents fractional seconds.

The date format for DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET also includes a time zone element. There is a space between the time element and the time zone element.

Converting Date/Time Data Types

You can change the data type on a column with date/time data to extract the date or the time part of the data. The following tables list the results of changing from one date/time data type to another date/time data type.

Converting from DT_FILETIME

Convert DT_FILETIME to Result
DT_FILETIME No change.
DT_DATE Converts the data type.
DT_DBDATE Removes the time value.
DT_DBTIME Removes the date value.

Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional digits that the DT_DBTIME data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DBTIME2 Removes the date value represented by the DT_FILETIME data type.

Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_DBTIME2 data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DBTIMESTAMP Converts the data type.
DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET Sets the time zone field in the DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data type to zero.

Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.

Converting from DT_DATE

Convert DT_DATE to Result
DT_FILETIME Converts the data type.
DT_DATE No change.
DT_DBDATE Removes the time value represented by the DT_DATA data type.
DT_DBTIME Removes the date value represented by the DT_DATE data type.
DT_DBTIME2 Removes the date value represented by the DT_DATE data type.
DT_DBTIMESTAMP Converts the data type.
DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 Converts the data type.
DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET Sets the time zone field in the DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data type to zero.

Converting from DT_DBDATE

Convert DT_DBDATE to Result
DT_FILETIME Sets the time fields in the DT_FILETIME data type to zero.
DT_DATE Sets the time fields in the DT_DATE data type to zero.
DT_DBDATE No change.
DT_DBTIME Sets the time fields in the DT_DBTIME data type to zero.
DT_DBTIME2 Sets the time fields in the DT_DBTIME2 data type to zero.
DT_DBTIMESTAMP Sets the time fields in the DT_DBTIMESTAMP data type to zero.
DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 Sets the time fields in the DT_DBTIMESTAMP data type to zero.
DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET Sets the time fields and the time zone field in the DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data type to zero.

Converting from DT_DBTIME

Convert DT_DBTIME to Result
DT_FILETIME Sets the date field in the DT_FILETIME data type to the current date.
DT_DATE Sets the date field in the DT_DATE data type to the current date.
DT_DBDATE Sets the date field in the DT_DBDATE data type to the current date.
DT_DBTIME No change.
DT_DBTIME2 Converts the data type.
DT_DBTIMESTAMP Sets the date field in the DT_DBTIMESTAMP data type to the current date.
DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 Sets the date field in the DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 data type to the current date.
DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET Sets the date field and the time zone field in the DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data type to the current date and to zero, respectively.

Converting from DT_DBTIME2

Convert DT_DBTIME2 to Result
DT_FILETIME Sets the date field in the DT_FILETIME data type to the current date.

Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_FILETIME data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DATE Sets the date field of the DT_DATE data type to the current date.

Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_DATE data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DBDATE Sets the date field of the DT_DBDATE data type to the current date.
DT_DBTIME Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_DBTIME data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DBTIME2 Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the destination DT_DBTIME2 data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DBTIMESTAMP Set the date field in the DT_DBTIMESTAMP data type to the current date.

Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_DBTIMESTAMP data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 Sets the date field in the DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 data type to the current date.

Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET Sets the date field and the time zone field in the DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data type to the current date and to zero, respectively.

Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.

Converting from DT_DBTIMESTAMP

Convert DT_DBTIMESTAMP to Result
DT_FILETIME Converts the data type.
DT_DATE If a value represented by the DT_DBTIMESTAMP data type overflows the range of the DT_DATE data type, returns the DB_E_DATAOVERFLOW error. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DBDATE Removes the time value represented by the DT_DBTIMESTAMP data type.
DT_DBTIME Removes the date value represented by the DT_DBTIMESTAMP data type.

Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_DBTIME data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DBTIME2 Removes the date value represented by the DT_DBTIMESTAMP data type.

Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_DBTIME2 data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DBTIMESTAMP No change.
DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET Sets the time zone field in the DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data type to zero.

Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.

Converting from DT_DBTIMESTAMP2

Convert DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 to Result
DT_FILETIME Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_FILETIME data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DATE If a value represented by the DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 data type overflows the range of the DT_DATE data type, the DB_E_DATAOVERFLOW error is returned. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.

Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_DATE data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DBDATE Removes the time value represented by the DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 data type.
DT_DBTIME Removes the date value represented by the DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 data type.

Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_DBTIME data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DBTIME2 Removes the date value represented by the DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 data type.

Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_DBTIME2 data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DBTIMESTAMP If a value represented by the DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 data type overflows the range of the DT_DBTIMESTAMP data type, returns the DB_E_DATAOVERFLOW error.

DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 maps to a SQL Server data type, datetime2, with a range of January 1, 1A.D. through December 31, 9999. DT_DBTIMESTAMP maps to a SQL Server data type, datetime, with smaller a range of January 1, 1753 through December 31, 9999.

Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_DBTIMESTAMP data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation.

For more information about errors, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the destination DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET Sets the time zone field in the DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data type to zero.

Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.

Converting from DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET

Convert DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET to Result
DT_FILETIME Changes the time value represented by the DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data type to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_FILETIME data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DATE Changes the time value represented by the DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data type to UTC.

If a value represented by the DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data type overflows the range of the DT_DATE data type, returns the DB_E_DATAOVERFLOW error.

Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_DATE data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation.

For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DBDATE Changes the time value represented by the DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data type to UTC, which can affect the date value. The time value is then removed.
DT_DBTIME Changes the time value represented by the DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data type to UTC.

Removes the data value represented by the DT_DBTIMESTAMPEOFFSET data type.

Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_DBTIME data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DBTIME2 Changes the time value represented by the DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data type to UTC.

Removes the date value represented by the DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data type.

Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_DBTIME2 data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DBTIMESTAMP Changes the time value represented by the DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data type to UTC.

If a value represented by the DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data type overflows the range of the DT_DBTIMESTAMP data type, the DB_E_DATAOVERFLOW error is returned.

Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_DBTIMESTAMP data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation.

For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 Changes the time value represented by the DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data type to UTC.

Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.
DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET Removes the fractional second value when its scale is greater than the number of fractional second digits that the destination DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET data type can contain. After removing the fractional second value, generates a report about this data truncation. For more information, see Error Handling in Data.

Mapping of Integration Services Data Types to Database Data Types

The following table provides guidance on mapping the data types used by certain databases to Integration Services data types. These mappings are summarized from the mapping files used by the SQL Server Import and Export Wizard when it imports data from these sources. For more information about these mapping files, see SQL Server Import and Export Wizard.

Important

These mappings are not intended to represent strict equivalency, but only to provide guidance. In certain situations, you may need to use a different data type than the one shown in this table.

Note

You can use the SQL Server data types to estimate the size of corresponding Integration Services date and time data types.

Data Type SQL Server

(SQLOLEDB; SQLNCLI10)
SQL Server (SqlClient) Jet Oracle

(OracleClient)
DB2

(DB2OLEDB)
DB2

(IBMDADB2)
DT_BOOL bit bit Bit
DT_BYTES binary, varbinary, timestamp binary, varbinary, timestamp BigBinary, VarBinary RAW
DT_CY smallmoney, money smallmoney, money Currency
DT_DATE
DT_DBDATE date (Transact-SQL) date (Transact-SQL) date date date
DT_DBTIME timestamp time time
DT_DBTIME2 time (Transact-SQL)(p) time (Transact-SQL) (p)
DT_DBTIMESTAMP datetime (Transact-SQL), smalldatetime (Transact-SQL) datetime (Transact-SQL), smalldatetime (Transact-SQL) DateTime TIMESTAMP, DATE, INTERVAL TIME, TIMESTAMP, DATE TIME, TIMESTAMP, DATE
DT_DBTIMESTAMP2 datetime2 (Transact-SQL) datetime2 (Transact-SQL) timestamp timestamp timestamp
DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET datetimeoffset (Transact-SQL)(p) datetimeoffset (Transact-SQL) (p) timestampoffset timestamp,

varchar
timestamp,

varchar
DT_DECIMAL
DT_FILETIME
DT_GUID uniqueidentifier uniqueidentifier GUID
DT_I1
DT_I2 smallint smallint Short SMALLINT SMALLINT
DT_I4 int int Long INTEGER INTEGER
DT_I8 bigint bigint BIGINT BIGINT
DT_NUMERIC decimal, numeric decimal, numeric Decimal NUMBER, INT DECIMAL, NUMERIC DECIMAL, NUMERIC
DT_R4 real real Single REAL REAL
DT_R8 float float Double FLOAT, REAL FLOAT, DOUBLE FLOAT, DOUBLE
DT_STR char, varchar VarChar CHAR, VARCHAR CHAR, VARCHAR
DT_UI1 tinyint tinyint Byte
DT_UI2
DT_UI4
DT_UI8
DT_WSTR nchar, nvarchar, sql_variant, xml char, varchar, nchar, nvarchar, sql_variant, xml LongText CHAR, ROWID, VARCHAR2, NVARCHAR2, NCHAR GRAPHIC, VARGRAPHIC GRAPHIC, VARGRAPHIC
DT_IMAGE image image LongBinary LONG RAW, BLOB, LOBLOCATOR, BFILE, VARGRAPHIC, LONG VARGRAPHIC, user-defined CHAR () FOR BIT DATA, VARCHAR () FOR BIT DATA CHAR () FOR BIT DATA, VARCHAR () FOR BIT DATA, BLOB
DT_NTEXT ntext text, ntext LONG, CLOB, NCLOB, NVARCHAR, TEXT LONG VARCHAR, NCHAR, NVARCHAR, TEXT LONG VARCHAR, DBCLOB, NCHAR, NVARCHAR, TEXT
DT_TEXT text LONG VARCHAR FOR BIT DATA LONG VARCHAR FOR BIT DATA, CLOB

For information on mapping data types in the data flow, see Working with Data Types in the Data Flow.

Blog entry, Performance Comparison between Data Type Conversion Techniques in SSIS 2008, on blogs.msdn.com.

See Also

Data in Data Flows