A lvarchar host variable of a fixed size

If you do not specify the size of a lvarchar host variable, the size is equivalent to a one-byte C-language char data type. If you specify a size, the lvarchar host variable is equivalent to a C-language char data type of that size. When you specify a fixed-size lvarchar host variable, any data beyond the specified size is truncated when the column is fetched. Use an indicator variable to check for truncation.

Because a lvarchar host variable of a known size is equivalent to a C-language char data type, you can use C-language character string operations to manipulate them.