OpenEdge Data Management: DataServer for Microsoft SQL Server

Table 2–5: MS SQL Server data type equivalents in OpenEdge (3 of 3)
image 2 CHARACTER
bit LOGICAL
timestamp CHARACTER 5
identity
uniqueidentifier
Depends on underlying type 5
CHARACTER 5
computed columns Depends on underlying type
cursor
Not supported 6
sql_variant Not supported
geometry Not supported
geography Not supported
hierarchyid Not supported
Working with unsupported data types
You can read data from tables containing unsupported data types by using two possible
workarounds – first, by creating a view or, secondly, by using a stored procedure.
Data types
MS SQL Server data type OpenEdge data type equivalent 1
1. The initial entry identifies the default data type. Data types in parentheses identify supported options.
2. Starting in MS SQL Server 2005, "image" and "text" LOB types on the server can be expressed as
"varbinary/(n)varchar(max)" types respectively. While still supported, Progress recommends legacy LOB types be
converted to "var(max)" types for better forward compatibility.
3. The default CHARACTER mapping for binary LOB server types can be changed to OpenEdge BLOB by selecting
the "Default to OpenEdge LOB" checkbox during object selection on a schema pull. WARNING: CHARACTER
and LOB columns are handled differently in OpenEdge. Code changes are required in your application if you to
re-map a server column to an OpenEdge BLOB that had previously been mapped to a CHARACTER field.
4. Starting in MS SQL Server 2008 using native drivers, these data types can be pulled into an OpenEdge schema
holder for MS SQL Server.
5. These non-updatable columns can be mapped into an MSS DataServer schema holder but cannot be written to on
the server.
6. For more information on unsupported data types, see the “Working with unsupported data types” section on
page 2–19.
To use the first workaround, create a view in the SQL Server database that excludes the
unsupported column so that only supported data types are available. For more information on
views, see the “MS SQL Server data source views” section on page 2–13.
To use the second workaround, write your own stored procedure with the RUN STORED
PROCEDURE statement or write SQL into a SEND-SQL-STATEMENT stored procedure call that
expresses Data Manipulation Language (DML) adequate to handle the table object without the
unsupported types. You can omit the unsupported data type in your DML statements such that
they are not returned in the result set or are CAST to data types that are supported. For more
information on stored procedures, see Chapter 3, “RDBMS Stored Procedure Details.”
2–19