Data types

Preview Snowflake data types in Snowflake compatibility mode. A supported type name can be written as-is in casts and column definitions.

Snowflake type	Support	Notes
`NUMBER`, `NUMBER(p, s)`	Supported	Defaults to `NUMBER(38, 0)`. Declared precision and scale are honored.
`DECIMAL`, `NUMERIC`	Supported	Synonyms for `NUMBER`.
`INT`, `INTEGER`, `BIGINT`, `SMALLINT`, `TINYINT`, `BYTEINT`	Supported
`FLOAT`, `FLOAT4`, `FLOAT8`, `DOUBLE`, `DOUBLE PRECISION`, `REAL`	Supported
`VARCHAR`, `VARCHAR(n)`, `STRING`, `TEXT`, `CHAR`, `CHARACTER`	Supported	A declared length is accepted and not enforced. `CHAR` is not blank-padded.
`BINARY`, `VARBINARY`	Supported
`BOOLEAN`	Supported
`DATE`	Supported
`TIMESTAMP`, `TIMESTAMP_NTZ`, `DATETIME`	Supported
`TIMESTAMP_LTZ`, `TIMESTAMP_TZ`	Supported	Both are stored as the same absolute instant. The original offset is not retained for display, so a `TIMESTAMP_TZ` renders in the session time zone.
`TIME`	Not supported	A time of day with no date is not supported. Store it in a `TIMESTAMP`, or as seconds since midnight.
`ARRAY`	With limitations	Arrays are typed, so an untyped `ARRAY` holds text rather than `VARIANT`. Declare an element type, such as `ARRAY(INT)`, for anything narrower.
`VARIANT`, `OBJECT`	Not supported	Semi-structured values are held as text; see Limitations.
`GEOGRAPHY`	Supported	Stored, but no `ST_*` function is available; see Geospatial functions.
`GEOMETRY`	Not supported	Planar geometry is not supported, only spheroidal geography.
`VECTOR`	Not supported

Limitations

Because VARIANT and OBJECT columns cannot be declared, a table holding semi-structured data uses TEXT and parses on read:

CREATE TABLE events (id INT, payload TEXT);

SELECT payload:user.id::INT AS user_id
FROM events;

The : path operator, :: casts and the JSON accessor functions all work against a TEXT column, so a query written against a VARIANT column usually needs only the column definition changed. See Semi-structured functions for where results still differ.

Overview

Performance and Observability

Security

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Guides

SQL reference

Release notes

API reference

Legal

Limitations

​Limitations

Limitations