The data type of a database field, temp-table field, or program variable defines what kind of data the field or variable can store. To allow better interoperability between OpenEdge® applications and external products, OpenEdge provides additional data types and new features for some existing data types in ABL (Advanced Business Language).
Note: For a list of all the ABL data types, see OpenEdge Development: ABL Reference.
The new data types and the ability to pass arrays as parameters provides a higher level of interoperability with products such as SQL92, XML, Open Client, Application Server, and Web services products. When the interface of an application is defined by a non-ABL application, these new data types ensure that the application executes properly. In addition, these new data types allow ABL developers to create more data-robust OpenEdge applications.
This new data type support applies to OpenEdge Releases 10.0B and later releases. It is described in the following sections:
