Integration Services Data Types

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 28.

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 231-1 (2,147,483,647) bytes. .

DT_NTEXT

A Unicode character string with a maximum length of 230 - 1 (1,073,741,823) characters.

DT_TEXT

An ANSI/MBCS character string with a maximum length of 231-1 (2,147,483,647) characters.

Converting 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors 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 Handling Errors in Data.

Mapping 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 Importing and Exporting Data by Using the 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.

Data Type

SQL Server

(SQLOLEDB; SQLNCLI10)

SQL Server (SqlClient)

Jet

Oracle

(MSDAORA)

Oracle

(OracleClient)

DB2

(DB2OLEDB)

DB2

(IBMDADB2)

DT_BOOL

bit

bit

Bit

DT_BYTES

binary, varbinary, timestamp

binary, varbinary, timestamp

BigBinary, VarBinary

RAW

RAW

DT_CY

smallmoney, money

smallmoney, money

Currency

DT_DATE

DT_DBDATE

date

date

date

date

date

date

DT_DBTIME

timestamp

timestamp

time

time

DT_DBTIME2

time(p)

time(p)

DT_DBTIMESTAMP

datetime, smalldatetime

datetime, smalldatetime

DateTime

TIMESTAMP, DATE, INTERVAL

TIMESTAMP, DATE, INTERVAL

TIME, TIMESTAMP, DATE

TIME, TIMESTAMP, DATE

DT_DBTIMESTAMP2

datetime2

datetime2

timestamp

timestamp

timestamp

timestamp

DT_DBTIMESTAMPOFFSET

datetimeoffset(p)

datetimeoffset(p)

timestampoffset

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

NUMBER, INT

DECIMAL, NUMERIC

DECIMAL, NUMERIC

DT_R4

real

real

Single

REAL

REAL

DT_R8

float

float

Double

FLOAT, REAL

FLOAT, REAL

FLOAT, DOUBLE

FLOAT, DOUBLE

DT_STR

char, varchar

VarChar

CHAR, ROWID, VARCHAR2

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

NVARCHAR2, NCHAR

CHAR, ROWID, VARCHAR2, NVARCHAR2, NCHAR

GRAPHIC, VARGRAPHIC

GRAPHIC, VARGRAPHIC

DT_IMAGE

image

image

LongBinary

LONG RAW, BLOB, LOBLOCATOR, BFILE, VARGRAPHIC, LONG VARGRAPHIC, user-defined

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

NCLOB, NVARCHAR, TEXT

LONG, CLOB, NCLOB, NVARCHAR, TEXT

LONG VARCHAR, NCHAR, NVARCHAR, TEXT

LONG VARCHAR, DBCLOB, NCHAR, NVARCHAR, TEXT

DT_TEXT

text

CLOB, LONG

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.

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Change History

Updated content

Corrected the description of the DT_DATE data type.