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This section discusses two new field types: Enhanced date and numeric fields.

Apollo enhances Date types and Numeric types by storing them in less space then their traditional DATE and NUMERIC counterparts.

Why Use Enhanced Date and Numeric Fields?

Depending on the structure and content of your data tables, it is possible to cut the size of your data files significantly using the compressed "I" (Integer) and "D" (Date) fields. DATE field values are stored in only three bytes (instead of the usual eight). Long integer NUMERIC values (2 billion) are stored in only four bytes (instead of up to 10). If you can significantly reduce the overall size of your data files, you can dramatically improve data processing speeds, especially on networks.

What changes do I need to make in my source code?

If you do not want to use these features, do nothing. Your code will work as is. To take advantage of them, you must create them. This is done using additional field declarations available in sx_CreateField function.

Note: Enhanced DATE and NUMERIC fields are only supported under the SDEFOX and SDENSX database engines.