SQL and COBOL data types

The table below shows a list of the most common SQL data types and the corresponding COBOL data type. You should define the host variables of your COBOL program according to this table.

SQL	COBOL
CHAR (n)	PIC X(n)
VARCHAR (n)	PIC X(n)
NUMERIC/DECIMAL(n)	PIC 9(n)
NUMERIC/DECIMAL(n,d)	PIC 9(n-d)v9(d)
CLOB	PIC X(n)
BLOB	PIC X(n) and ESQL$BLOB routine
DATE / TIME	PIC X(n) and the proper date conversion function, that varies depending on the database