Describing a Distinct-Type Column

The DESCRIBE statement sets the following item-descriptor fields when the column to fetch has a distinct type as its data type:
  • The SOURCEID field stores the extended identifier for the source data type.

    This integer has the value of the source column for the row of the sysxtdtypes system catalog table whose extended_id value matches that of the distinct data type. This field is set only if the source data type is an opaque data type.

  • The SOURCETYPE field stores the data type constant for the source data type.

    This value is the data type constant (from the sqltypes.h file) for the data type of the source type for the DISTINCT data type. The codes for the SOURCETYPE field are listed in the description of the TYPE field in the SET DESCRIPTOR statement. (For more information, see Setting the TYPE or ITYPE Field.) This integer value must correspond to the value in the type column for the row of the sysxtdtypes system catalog table whose extended_id value matches that of the DISTINCT data type.

Use these field names with the GET DESCRIPTOR statement to obtain information about a distinct-type column.