The data type of a database field, temp-table field, or program variable defines what kind of data the field or variable can store. To allow better interoperability between OpenEdge applications and external products, OpenEdge provides additional data types and new features for some existing data types in ABL (Advanced Business Language).

Note: For a list of all the ABL data types, see Data types in the ABL Reference.

The new data types and the ability to pass arrays as parameters provides a higher level of interoperability with products such as SQL92, XML, Open Client, Application Server, and Web services products. When the interface of an application is defined by a non-ABL application, these new data types ensure that the application executes properly. In addition, these new data types allow ABL developers to create more data-robust OpenEdge applications.

This new data type support applies to OpenEdge Releases 10.0B and later releases. It is described in the following sections: