SharePoint 2010 Number Column Type Has Different Data Sizes

Question

I have a list that has several number columns:

• number with zero decimal places (expected to be integer)
• number with two decimal places (expected to be float)

• calculated number with two decimal places (expected to be float).

  The problem that I am having is that when the values are read in MS Access VBA, the data size of the fields is not consistent with what I am expecting. Here is what I am seeing:

  1. number with zero decimal places (expected to be integer) = size 8 bytes
  2. number with two decimal places (expected to be float) = size 8 bytes
  3. calculated number with two decimal places (expected to be float) = size 16 bytes

As you can see, the number of decimal places does not determine the data size of the field as would be expected. These data size values are consistent whether the value is an integer (including zero) or decimal values.

Is there any way to force the field data size and/or force whether a field is an integer or float. I need to be able to differentiate (in VBA) between those that are integers and those that are floats, even if the value is zero.

I am working with SharePoint 2010 Enterprise and MS Access 2010.

Answer 1

My understanding is that the field values are stored the same under the hood no matter what the display format is. The decimal format is merely how the UI renders the value and does not affect the storage size of the value as they are all of type number when creating the column.