A DB2 VARCHAR(nn) column is incorrectly created when all the following conditions are true:

• The SAS maintenance release is earlier than SAS^® 9.4M7 (TS1M7).
• The DB2 server version is DB2 version 11 or later.
• The SAS column attribute TRANSCODE=NO is assigned.
• You create a DB2 table.

You might also see this issue when the DB2 client and server versions are different. For example, you are using a DB2 version 10 client and a DB2 version 11 server.

For DB2 version 10, you would expect TRANSCODE=NO to result in a DB2 column that is created as "VARCHAR(nn) FOR BIT DATA."

For DB2 version 11, you would expect TRANSCODE=NO to result in a DB2 column that is created as "VARBINARY(nn)."

The following syntax can demonstrate the issue:

The SASTRACE output shows that the CREATE TABLE clause is generated as one of the following, and the last one is incorrect:

• CREATE TABLE db2table (my-key VARCHAR(32) FOR BIT DATA)
• CREATE TABLE db2table (my-key VARBINARY(32))
• CREATE TABLE db2table (my-key VARCHAR(32))

The only workaround is to use the DBTYPE= data set option, as shown here:

Click the Hot Fix tab in this note to access the hot fix for this issue.

Operating System and Release Information

A fix for this issue for SAS/ACCESS Interface to DB2 9.44 is available at:

A fix for this issue for SAS/ACCESS Interface to DB2 9.43 is available at: