varchar problems with DB2 for OS/390

[Misou]

Has anyone had any performance problems using Varchar columns in DB2? I am converting an application from Oracle to Db2 and everything in oracle is varchar. I have only heard from others that this may cause performance problems, but I have not found anything in the manuals to support this. Thanks~MIS

 

[Crox]

Hi,

I worked for a long time in DB2 environments. I can't point you to some warning about this but I know it is very uncommon to use varchar columns, probably because of the reason you mention. But it is possible to create optional fields which can be empty. I guess that can also help to save space.

On the other hand it is also possible to use VSAM files which have no difficulties with variable lenghts.

DB2 manuals are found in the bookmanager environment of IBM, also for free on the web. There is also a funny trick to get the complete manual in ASCII format by saying you want to print it. Then there is one html page created containing the complete manual. Then you save it as text. Then you can use editors like SPF/SE with exclude and find all statements to look-up fast the things you want to know.

Good Luck en let us know what you found out!



Let us know what you found out!