Micro Focus Enterprise Developer 3.0 for Visual Studio 2017 > Programming > Mainframe Programming > PL/I Programming > Open PL/I User's Guide > Language Concepts > Data Types

Data Types

The table below lists the Open PL/I data types, along with the alignment and size of their machine representations.

Alignment is the same for Intel, AIX/Power, and Sun SPARC, unless otherwise specified.

Data Type	Size	Alignment: aligned data	Alignment: unaligned data
Fixed Binary Signed (`p` <= 7) ¹	1 byte	1 byte	byte
Fixed Binary Signed (8 <= `p` <= 15)	2 bytes	2 bytes	byte
Fixed Binary Signed (16 <= `p` <= 31)	4 bytes	4 bytes	byte
Fixed Binary Signed (32 <= `p` <= 63)	8 bytes	4 bytes (32-bit system) 8 bytes (64-bit system)	byte
Fixed Binary Unsigned (`p` <= 8) ²	1 byte	1 byte	byte
Fixed Binary Unsigned (9 <= `p` <= 16)	2 bytes	2 bytes	byte
Fixed Binary Unsigned (17 <= `p` <= 32)	4 bytes	4 bytes	byte
Fixed Binary Unsigned (33 <= `p` <= 64)	8 bytes	4 bytes (32-bit system) 8 bytes (64-bit system)	byte
Fixed Decimal `(p,q)`	[(`p`+2)/2] bytes	byte	byte
Float Binary `(p` <= 23)	4 bytes	4 bytes	byte
Float Binary (`p` > 23)	8 bytes	4 bytes (Intel 32-bit), 8 bytes ( Intel 64-bit, Sparc, RS/6000)	byte
Float Decimal `(p)`	12 bytes	4 bytes	byte
Character `(n)`	`n` bytes	byte	byte
Character `(n)` Varying	`n`+2 bytes	2 bytes	byte
Character `(n)` Varyingz	`n`+1 bytes	byte	byte
Graphic`(n)`	`n`*2 bytes	byte	byte
Graphic`(n)` Varying	`n`*2+2 bytes	2 bytes	byte
Graphic`(n)` Varyingz	`n`*2+2 bytes	byte	byte
Widechar `(n)`	`n`*2 bytes	byte	byte
Widechar `(n)` Varying	`n`*2+2 bytes	Half-word	byte
Widechar`(n)` Varyingz	`n`*2+1 bytes	byte	byte
Bit `(n)`	`n` bits	bit	bit
Bit `(n)` Aligned	[(`n`+7)/8] bytes	byte	–
Pointer (32-bit)	4 bytes	4 bytes	byte
Pointer (64-bit)	8 bytes	8 bytes	byte
Picture	`n` bytes	byte	byte
Label	8 bytes	4 bytes	byte
Entry Variable	8 bytes	4 bytes	byte
File Variable	4 bytes	4 bytes	byte
Structure³	sum of members + gaps for alignment	max of members	byte
Area `(n)`	(((`n`+7)/8)*8)+8 bytes	8 bytes	–
Offset	4 bytes	4 bytes	byte

Subsequent sections provide additional information about the size, alignment, internal representation including byte ordering, and range, where applicable.

The byte ordering on the IBM RS/6000 and Sun SPARC platforms is Big Endian, while the Intel-based platforms have Little Endian byte ordering.

Note:

In the descriptions of data types that follow, the alignment specified is the default, which is ALIGNED for all data types except Bit. For the alignment of each data type with the UNALIGNED attribute, refer to the table above.

¹ Fixed Binary Signed (p <= 7 ) is handled as a one-byte signed binary integer by default. To override this default and handle as a two-byte signed binary integer, use the -fb7asfb15 compiler option.

² Fixed Binary Unsigned (p <= 8) is handled as a one-byte unsigned binary integer by default. To override this default and handle as a two-byte unsigned binary integer, use the -fb7asfb15 compiler option.

³ See the Structure topic for mapping conventions.