The Oracle DATE data type contains both date and time information. By default, in the schema image, an Oracle date column is represented by two OpenEdge fields: a DATE field and an INTEGER field. The DataServer follows this convention when naming the fields: column column-1. For example, an Oracle date column named Date_Due converts to two fields named Date_Due and Date_Due-1 in the schema image. Date_Due is a DATE field and Date_Due-1 is an INTEGER field.

OpenEdge converts the time component of the Oracle date to an INTEGER value. To convert the INTEGER value into time, use ABL STRING and TIME functions, as described in ABL Reference.

You can change the data type mapping for DATE to CHARACTER in the schema image using the Data Dictionary. If you change the mapping, you must remove the column representing the time as an INTEGER. Use this feature only if you must use the time portion of an Oracle DATE in WHERE clauses.

The range of Oracle DATE are the years 4712 B.C. to 4712 A.D. The range of DATE that the DataServer supports are the years 999 B.C. to 9999 A.D. The DataServer converts all years greater than 4712 to 4712. For example, if your OpenEdge application updates a DATE column with the year 4750, the DataServer converts it to 4712 before writing it to the Oracle database.