SMALLINT

The SMALLINT data type stores data as signed two-byte binary integers.

Values must be whole numbers within the range from -32,767 to +32,767.

Any fractional part of the data value is discarded. If a value lies outside this range, you cannot store it in a SMALLINT variable or database column. (The negative value -32,768 is reserved; it cannot be assigned to a SMALLINT variable, constant, or database column, nor entered into a SMALLINT field.)

You can use SMALLINT variables, constants, and FORMONLY fields of screen forms to store, manipulate, and display data that can be represented as whole numbers of an absolute value less than 2**15. This data type typically stores small whole numbers, Boolean values, ranks, 4-digit codes, or measurements that classify data into a small number of numerically-coded categories. Since a SMALLINT data type requires only 2 bytes of storage, arithmetic operations in number expressions can be done very efficiently, provided that the values of the operands lie within the somewhat limited range of SMALLINT values.