> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.kinetica.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Column Types

<a id="sql-column-types" />

### Number

| Data Type         | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| ----------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `BOOLEAN`         | Effective *specific type*: [boolean](/content/concepts/types#types-chart)                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| `TINYINT`         | Effective *specific type*: [int8](/content/concepts/types#types-chart)                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| `BYTE`            | *Alias for* `TINYINT`                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| `SMALLINT`        | Effective *specific type*: [int16](/content/concepts/types#types-chart)                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| `INTEGER`         | Effective *specific type*: [int](/content/concepts/types#types-chart)                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| `INT`             | *Alias for* `INTEGER`                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| `BIGINT`          | Effective *specific type*: [long](/content/concepts/types#types-chart)                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| `DECIMAL`         | *Alias for* `BIGINT`                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| `LONG`            | *Alias for* `BIGINT`                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| `UNSIGNED BIGINT` | Effective *specific type*: [ulong](/content/concepts/types#types-chart)                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| `UNSIGNED LONG`   | *Alias for* `UNSIGNED BIGINT`                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| `REAL`            | Effective *specific type*: [float](/content/concepts/types#types-chart)                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| `FLOAT`           | *Alias for* `REAL`                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| `DOUBLE`          | Effective *specific type*: [double](/content/concepts/types#types-chart)                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| `DECIMAL(P,S)`    | Effective *specific type*: [decimal(p,s)](/content/concepts/types#types-chart) <br /> <br /> Maximum precision `P` is *27* <br /> <br /> Maximum scale `S` is *18* <br /> <br /> Precision determines decimal storage size: <br /> <br /> *1* - *18*: *8* <br /> <br /> *19* - *27*: *12* |
| `NUMERIC`         | *Alias for* `DECIMAL(P,S)`                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |

### String

| Data Type    | Description                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| ------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `VARCHAR`    | Effective *specific type*: [string](/content/concepts/types#types-chart); character limit based on configured system property                                                                      |
| `VARCHAR(N)` | Effective *specific type*: the smallest [charN](/content/concepts/types#types-chart) type that is at least size `N`, or [string](/content/concepts/types#types-chart) if `N` is greater than *256* |
| `CHAR`       | *Alias for* `VARCHAR` / `VARCHAR(N)`                                                                                                                                                               |
| `STRING`     | *Alias for* `VARCHAR` / `VARCHAR(N)`                                                                                                                                                               |
| `TEXT`       | *Alias for* `VARCHAR` / `VARCHAR(N)`                                                                                                                                                               |
| `IPV4`       | *Shorthand for* `VARCHAR(IPV4)`, which applies the [IPV4](/content/sql/ddl/column-properties#sql-column-properties) column property                                                                |
| `UUID`       | Effective *specific type* [uuid](/content/concepts/types#types-chart)                                                                                                                              |
| `JSON`       | Effective *specific type* [json](/content/concepts/types#types-chart)                                                                                                                              |

### Date/Time

| Data Type        | Description                                                                 |
| ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `DATE`           | Effective *specific type*: [date](/content/concepts/types#types-chart)      |
| `DATETIME`       | Effective *specific type*: [datetime](/content/concepts/types#types-chart)  |
| `TIME`           | Effective *specific type*: [time](/content/concepts/types#types-chart)      |
| `TIMESTAMP`      | Effective *specific type*: [timestamp](/content/concepts/types#types-chart) |
| `TYPE_DATE`      | *Alias for* `DATE`                                                          |
| `TYPE_TIME`      | *Alias for* `TIME`                                                          |
| `TYPE_TIMESTAMP` | *Alias for* `TIMESTAMP`                                                     |

### Binary

| Data Type   | Description                                                             |
| ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `BLOB`      | Effective *specific type*: [bytes](/content/concepts/types#types-chart) |
| `BINARY`    | *Alias for* `BLOB`                                                      |
| `BYTES`     | *Alias for* `BLOB`                                                      |
| `VARBINARY` | *Alias for* `BLOB`                                                      |

### Geospatial

| Data Type        | Description                                                                                |
| ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `GEOMETRY`       | Effective *specific type*: [wkt](/content/concepts/types#types-chart) (*string* base type) |
| `ST_GEOMETRY`    | *Alias for* `GEOMETRY`                                                                     |
| `WKT`            | *Alias for* `GEOMETRY`                                                                     |
| `BLOB(WKT)`      | Effective *specific type*: [wkt](/content/concepts/types#types-chart) (*bytes* base type)  |
| `BINARY(WKT)`    | *Alias for* `BLOB(WKT)`                                                                    |
| `BYTES(WKT)`     | *Alias for* `BLOB(WKT)`                                                                    |
| `VARBINARY(WKT)` | *Alias for* `BLOB(WKT)`                                                                    |

### Composite

| Data Type            | Description                                                                                                                                                |
| -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `BOOLEAN[N]`         | Effective *specific type*: [array(boolean)](/content/concepts/types#types-chart) (*string* base type)                                                      |
| `INTEGER[N]`         | Effective *specific type*: [array(int)](/content/concepts/types#types-chart) (*string* base type)                                                          |
| `BIGINT[N]`          | Effective *specific type*: [array(long)](/content/concepts/types#types-chart) (*string* base type)                                                         |
| `UNSIGNED BIGINT[N]` | Effective *specific type*: [array(ulong)](/content/concepts/types#types-chart) (*string* base type)                                                        |
| `VECTOR(N)`          | Effective *specific type*: [vector(n)](/content/concepts/types#types-chart) (*bytes* base type); generally used in [vector search](/content/vector_search) |
| `REAL[N]`            | Effective *specific type*: [array(float)](/content/concepts/types#types-chart) (*string* base type)                                                        |
| `DOUBLE[N]`          | Effective *specific type*: [array(double)](/content/concepts/types#types-chart) (*string* base type)                                                       |
| `VARCHAR[N]`         | Effective *specific type*: [array(string)](/content/concepts/types#types-chart) (*string* base type)                                                       |
