Overview of Database Data Types

Regardless of the database software you are using, there are some standard data types. There may be a slight variation in the actual name of the data type and there might be a slight difference in the specifications for the data type depending on the database software, but for the most part we expect to see some standard data types.

A data type could be referred to as the format of a database field. The first step in creating a new database (in any database software) is to create a list of fields. For each of those fields, we need to identify what type of data will go into that field. For instance, will it be a date or will it be a description made up of a few sentences?

In litigation support, we will receive a text file that contains rows and fields of document data. In order to build the database, we need to identify the data types in the text file.

I am not going to provide a full list of data types in this article, but I want to give you a brief overview.

Concordance

Text – Use this data type for shorter text values like a BegDoc number or a Custodian name. A text field can also contain multiple values such as Witnesses (Smith J.; Jones S.; Hill, R.) or Issues (Fraud; Negligent; Wrongdoing).

Numeric – Use this data type for any number values like the Time or a Page Count.

Date – Use this date type for a Date value, and you can choose how you want the date displayed, for instance MM/DD/YYYY.

Paragraph – Use this data type for OCR text or a Description field or Attorney Notes.

Summation

Text – Same as above.

Integer – Use this data type for numerical values.

Date – Use this data type for a Date value.

Time – Use this data type for a Time value.

Multi-Entry – Use this data type for multiple values. See example above.

Note – Use this data type for a Summary or Attorney Notes.

Microsoft Access

Text – Same as above.

Numeric – Use this data type for numerical values.

Date/Time – Use this data type for Date and/or Time values.

Memo – Use this data type for a Summary or Attorney Notes.

So, let's say for example that you have received a text file with document data that looks like this:

DocID,DocType,From,To,Date,Subject,AttachmentCount
12345,Email,John Smith,Phil Jones,12/01/2011,Monthly Report,1
23622,Email,Sarah Smith,Jane Jones,01/09/2012,Important Update,0

Line 1 is the Header Row, which is a list of the Field Names.

Line 2 and 3 contain the document data.

The commas are called “delimiters” and they separate the field values to assist with the import of the data into a database.

There are 7 fields worth of data for each document.

Let's assume that your database software is Concordance. Which data type would you assign to each of the 7 fields when creating your database field list? Take a few moments to think about it and then check the answer below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DocID = Text

DocType = Text

From = Text

To = Text

Date = Date

Subject = Text

AttachmentCount = Numeric