Date Formats and Floating-Point Number Formats

When exporting data, and no Format is specified in the external set, data is exported 'as is':

•DATE values are exported using the internal date format: YYYY/MMDDHH24MISS.

•Floating-point numbers are exported as received from the database, and without using the regional settings for the fraction and group separators.

When importing data, and no Format is specified, the following rules apply:

•Date values are expected to have internal date format: YYYY/MMDDHH24MISS.

•For floating-point numbers, the regional settings for fraction and group separators are ignored.

•MONEY and SMALLMONEY fields are expected to have as much as two decimals.

•FLOAT, REAL, and DOUBLE PRECISION fields can have floating-point numbers. The maximum number of decimals is only limited by the field length.

•NUMBER, DECIMAL and NUMERIC fields cannot have floating-point numbers.

You are advised to specify a Format for floating-point numbers and date values whenever possible. If a Format is specified, regional settings for fraction and group separators are always used in export and import tasks.