Data types

Current Data types conversion for PostgreSQL to Snowconvert.

Applies to

• PostgreSQL

• Greenplum

• Netezza

Snowflake supports most basic SQL data types (with some restrictions) for use in columns, local variables, expressions, parameters, and any other appropriate/suitable locations.

Numeric Data Types

PostgreSQL	Snowflake
INT	INT
INT2	SMALLINT
INT4	INTEGER
INT8	INTEGER
INTEGER	INTEGER
BIGINT	BIGINT
DECIMAL	DECIMAL
DOUBLE PRECISION	DOUBLE PRECISION
NUMERIC​	NUMERIC
SMALLINT	SMALLINT
FLOAT	FLOAT
FLOAT4	FLOAT4
FLOAT8	FLOAT8
REAL	REAL​
BIGSERIAL/SERIAL8	INTEGER Note: Snowflake supports defining columns as IDENTITY, which automatically generates sequential values. This is the more concise and often preferred approach in Snowflake.

Character Types

PostgreSQL	Snowflake
VARCHAR	VARCHAR Note: VARCHAR holds Unicode UTF-8 characters. If no length is specified, the default is the maximum allowed length (16,777,216).
CHAR	CHAR
CHARACTER	CHARACTER Note: Snowflake's CHARACTER is an alias for VARCHAR.
NCHAR	NCHAR
BPCHAR	VARCHAR Note: BPCHAR data type is not supported in Snowflake. VARCHAR is used instead. For more information please refer to SSC-FDM-PG0002.
CHARACTER VARYING	CHARACTER VARYING
NATIONAL CHARACTER	NCHAR
NATIONAL CHARACTER VARYING	NCHAR VARYING
TEXT	TEXT
NAME (Special character type)	VARCHAR

Boolean Types

PostgreSQL	Snowflake
BOOL/BOOLEAN	BOOLEAN

Binary Types

PostgreSQL	Snowflake
BYTEA	BINARY

Bit String Types

PostgreSQL	Snowflake
BIT	CHARACTER
BIT VARYING	CHARACTER VARYING
VARBIT	CHARACTER VARYING

Date & Time Data

PostgreSQL	Snowflake
DATE	DATE
TIME	TIME
TIME WITH TIME ZONE	TIME Note: Time zone not supported for time data type. For more information, please refer to SSC-FDM-0005.
TIME WITHOUT TIME ZONE	TIME
TIMESTAMP	TIMESTAMP
TIMESTAMPTZ	TIMESTAMP_TZ
TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE	TIMESTAMP_TZ
TIMESTAMP WITHOUT TIME ZONE	TIMESTAMP_NTZ
INTERVAL YEAR TO MONTH	VARCHAR Note: Data type is not supported in Snowflake. VARCHAR is used instead. For more information please refer to SSC-EWI-0036.
INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND	VARCHAR Note: Data type is not supported in Snowflake. VARCHAR is used instead. For more information please refer to SSC-EWI-0036.

Pseudo Types

PostgreSQL	Snowflake
UNKNOWN	TEXT Note: Data type is not supported in Snowflake. TEXT is used instead. For more information please refer to SSC-EWI-0036.

Array Types

PostgreSQL	Snowflake
type []	ARRAY Note: Strongly typed array transformed to ARRAY without type checking. For more information please refer to SSC-FDM-PG0016.

Related EWIs

1. SSC-FDM-PG0002: Bpchar converted to varchar.
2. SSC-FDM-PG0003: Bytea Converted To Binary
3. SSC-FDM-PG0014: Unknown Pseudotype transformed to Text Type
4. SSC-FDM-0005: TIME ZONE not supported for time data type.
5. SSC-EWI-0036: Data type converted to another data type.
6. SSC-EWI-PG0016: Bit String Type converted to Varchar Type.
7. SSC-FDM-PG0016: Strongly typed array transformed to ARRAY without type checking.