Karen Lopez, a data and information architecture expert with over 20 years of experience, emphasizes the importance of understanding various data types and their implications on data quality and performance during her presentation. She discusses both physical and logical data types, offering tips for data modelers on how to choose appropriate types and avoid common pitfalls. The event encourages continued conversation and engagement through social media, aiming to deepen participants' appreciation for data.

1. Karen Lopez @datachick #TEAMDATA
GREAT SCOTT!
Working with all those weird datatypes

2. Yes, Please do Tweet/Share
today’s event
@datachick
@ERStudio

3. Karen López
Karen has 20+ years of data and information architecture
experience on large, multi-project programs.
She is a frequent speaker on data modeling, data-driven
methodologies and pattern data models.
She blogs at community.embarcadero.com, datamodel.com
and Dataversity.net
She wants you to love your data.

4. Logistics…
Use Q&A for formal
questions – ask at any
time
Slides will be
distributed after event
Continue the
conversation on
Twitter
There’s more to
come…

5. Plan for Today
Types of Data Types
The Outlier Data Types
Working with Data Types
10 Tips for Working with Data Types

6. Poll: Who are you?

7. Poll: Which RDBMSs Do You Support?

8. Datatypes
Why do we need them?
What types of datatypes are there?

9. Datatypes aren’t
just formats

10. Datatypes are
also about
data quality

11. Datatypes are
also about
PERFORMANCE

12. Note…
Today’s focus is mostly on physical
data types…
….but I do have some thoughts on
logical data types as well

13. Types of Datatypes*
predefined data types
constructed types
user-defined types
ISO: 9075

14. Data types
Understand your
data type
taxonomies, by
RDBMS and version.
IBM DB2

15. Understand the lingo
Data type names
Data type syntax
Data type gotchas

16. The Basic Datatypes
Strings
Numeric
Boolean
Dates and Times
Interval
ISO: 9075

17. Fancy Datatypes
• HIERARCHYID
• Spatial data types (GEOMETRY, GEOGRAPHY, more)
• XML
• JSON < NEW!!!!! FANCY!!!
• PERIODs
• MONEY
• Spatial temporal data types (a special one)

18. Hierarchies

19. Meet JSON
Javascript Object Notation
JSON support arrays and
variable data items
Much like XML in theory
(shredding, overuse, popular )
https://docs.mongodb.org/getting-started/shell/import-data/

20. Periods
Data type for storing an
opening and closing date (or
time) period
Has special operators and
functions to help work with
the data
Importantly, an “until
closed” end period
https://developer.teradata.com/database/articles/exploring-teradata-13s-period-data-type

21. Spatial data types
Special functions
Meet needs for shapes and lines
Geospatial Data in SQL Server. (2015, May 14). Wikibooks, The
Free Textbook Project. Retrieved 18:21, November 10, 2015
from https://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?title=Geospatial_Data_i
n_SQL_Server&oldid=2958376.

22. Money (and other specialized data types)
Special use cases
Special limiations
Limited cross-platform
support
Often limitations are not well
known
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.4/static/datatype-money.html
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.4/static/datatype-net-types.html

23. Dates and Times
Various “precisions”
Some, not all, RDBMSs
support WITH TIMEZONE
Conversion
compatibilities
ISO 9075

24. Host Implementation Gotchas
TIMESTAMP
Dates and Times
WITH TIMEZONE
TINYINT
BIT
And more….

25. Other Gotchas
Conversion Compatibilities
Performance of conversions
Foreign key consistency
NULLability
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms191530.aspx

26. User Defined Data Types

27. http://www.datamodel.com/index.php/20
14/04/01/sql-server-2014-new-datatype/

28. Iterative Data Modeling

29. How do we set data types?
Data
architects
must work
with DBAs,
Devs, end
users to
finalize
datatypes

30. Deciding on Datatypes
Data profiling
Awareness of options
Confirmation of cost, benefit, risk
Urban myths
Testing and benchmarking

31. What about logical data types?
They are just as important
Many of our thoughts today apply
We should stive to keep them simple
Logical data types for meaning
Yet….

32. Logical/Physical data type mapping

33. Other Modeling Gotchas

35. 10 Tips for using the right datatypes
1.Learn all the datatypes available to you, by RDMS
and version
2.Read the pros and cons of each
3.Create user defined datatypes that provide
benefits to more than just the data modeler
4.Understand datatype compatibilities
5.Know the business case for longer datatypes

36. 10 Tips for Data Modelers
6. Be prepared to defend the use of the correct
datatype
7. Size matters: know why
8. Stop using deprecated data types. Really. Just. Stop.
9. Monitor RDBMs upcoming features
10.Request enhancements if your tools don’t support an
RDBMS datatype.

37. RDBMS resources
SQL Server Books On Line (MSDN)
IBM DB2 (z/OS and LUW) Knowledge Center
Teradata Online Library
Oracle Database Online Library
…plus all the others…

38. Community
community.embarcadero.com

39. Thank you, you were great.
Let’s do this again some time!
Karen Lopez @datachick