as the title states, when creating a table, when definining an variable + datatype like:
CREATE TABLE ExampleTable{
ID INTEGER,
NAME VARCHAR(200),
Integerandfloat
}
Question: You can define a variable as integer or as float etc. however, is there a datatype that can hold both values, integer as well as a float number ?
Some databases support variant data types that can have an arbitrary type. For instance, SQL Server has sql_variant.
Most databases also allow you to create your own data type (using create type). However, the power of that functionality depends on the database.
For the choice between a float and an integer, there isn't much choice. An 8-byte floating point representation covers all 4-byte integers, so you can just use a float. However, float is generally not very useful in relational databases. Fixed-point representations (numeric/decimal) are more common and might also do what you want.
Just store it using float.
Think in this way: you have two variables, one integer type (let's call it i) and another float type (let's call it f).
If you do:
i = 0.55
RESULT -> i = 0
But if you have:
f = 0.55
RESULT -> f = 0.55
In this way you can store in f also integer value:
f = 1
RESULT -> f = 1
