Re: use of date type fields

[Dave Mahadevan <mahadevan@xxxxxxxx>]

Dan:

Dan Swartz wrote:

> We're embarking on some database design issues and I wanted to know how
> others felt about the use of date type fields versus just numeric type
> fields (format would be CCYYMMDD).

I prefer CCYYMMDD.  However this will take 5 bytes packed while the date data
type takes only 4 bytes and gives you automatic editing.

> What overhead (if any) would there be to convert numeric fields to date
> type fields to do certain date interval calculations?

There is a slow down when you use date data type.  However, as somebody pointed
out yesterday, IBM has issued a ptf to speed up the date processing.  The 
problem
is default date cannot be all zeros.

--
Thank You.

Regards

Dave Mahadevan.. mailto:mahadevan@fuse.net


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