There are many data types supported by physical files in as400, which are as follows:

1. Character – entry A in fixed position 35.
2. Binary – entry B
3. Floating point – entry F
4. Hexadecimal – entry H
5. Date – entry L
6. Packed decimal – entry P
7. Zoned decimal – entry S
8. Time – entry T
9. Timestamp – entry Z
10. Binary character – entry 5 There are also some DDS-supported DBCS data types.
11. DBCS only – entry J
12. DBCS either – entry E
13. Open – entry O
14. Graphics – entry G (UCS-2 or UTF-16)

Points to consider while implementing these data types in physical files.

• Decimal places 36 and 37 for the Character data type (A) would be empty.
• Decimal places 36 and 37 for Packed Decimal (P) and Zoned Decimal (S) data types (P) would hold values ranging from 0 to 63 maximum.
• Position 37 would have the value 0 to indicate that it is a numeric field for data types such as packed, zoned, and binary fields.
• The maximum length permitted for the Binary(B) data type is 18.
• The maximum length permitted for the Float(F) data type with single precision and the FTPCN(*SINGLE) keyword applied is 9.
• The maximum length permitted for the Float(F) data type with double precision and the FTPCN(*DOUBLE) keyword applied is 17.

Source code for defining character data type in the physical file: maximum allowed length for the character data type is 32766

A          R RFMT1                                   
A            CHARF      32766A

The source code for defining Varying character data types in physical files: 

The maximum allowed length for varying character data types is 32740, and the VARLEN keyword is used.

A          R RFMT1                                  
A            CHARF      32740A         VARLEN

Source code for defining Binary data type in the physical file:

the maximum allowed length for the character data type is 18.

A          R RFMT1               
A            BINF          18B  

Source code for defining Floating data type in physical file:

the maximum allowed length for floating data type is 9 for single precision.

A          R RFMT1                                   
A            FLOATSF        9F         FLTPCN(*SINGLE)

The maximum allowed length for the floating data type is 17 for double precision.

A          R RFMT1                                  
A            FLOATDF       17F         FLTPCN(*DOUBLE)

The source code for defining the Hexadecimal data type in the physical file:

the maximum allowed length for the hexadecimal data type is 32766.

A          R RFMT1            
A            HEXDECF    32766H

Source code for defining Date data type in physical file

A          R RFMT1            
A            DATEF           L

Source code for defining Time data type in physical file

A          R RFMT1            
A            TIMEF           T

Source code for defining Timestamp data type in physical file

A          R RFMT1              
A            TIMESTAMPF      Z

The source code for defining the Packed decimal data type in the physical file:

the maximum allowed length for the packed decimal data type is 63. Either 63 numeric and decimal 0 or 0 numeric and decimal 63.

A          R RFMT1                    
A            PACKEDDECF    63P 0        
A            PACKEDDECL    63P63

The source code for defining the Zoned decimal data type in the physical file:

the maximum allowed length for the packed decimal data type is 63. Either 63 numeric and decimal 0 or 0 numeric and decimal 63.

A          R RFMT1                    
A            ZONEDDECF     63S 0        
A            ZONEDDECL     63S63

The source code for defining the Binary character data type in the physical file:

the maximum allowed length for the binary character data type is 32766.

A          R RFMT1             
A            BINCHARF   327665

Source code for DDS-supported DBCS data type Source code for defining DBCS-only data type in the physical file:

the maximum allowed length for DBCS-only data type is 32766.

A          R RFMT1            
A            DBCSONLYF  32766J

The source code for defining Varying DBCS-only data types in the physical file:

the maximum allowed length for varying DBCS-only data types is 32740.

A          R RFMT1            
A            DBCSONLYF  32740J         VARLEN

Source code for defining DBCS Either data type in the physical file:

the maximum allowed length for DBCS either data type is 32766.

A          R RFMT1            
A            DBCSETHRF  32766E

Source code for defining Varying DBCS:

The maximum allowed length for varying DBCS data types in the physical file is 32740.

A          R RFMT1            
A            DBCSETHRF  32740E         VARLEN

The source code for defining the Open data type in the physical files:

the maximum allowed length for the open data type is 32766.

A          R RCDFMT1                                
A            OPEN1      32766O         CCSID(65535)

The source code for defining Varying open data types in physical files:

the maximum allowed length for varying open data types is 32740.

A          R RCDFMT1                                
A            OPEN2      32740O         CCSID(65535)  VARLEN

Source code for defining Graphic data type in physical file:

the maximum allowed length for the open data type is 16383.

A          R RFMT1                                
A            GRAPA      16383G         CCSID(1200) 
A            GRAPB      16383G         CCSID(13488)

The source code for defining Varying graphic data types in physical files:

the maximum allowed length for varying open data types is 16370.

A          R RFMT1                                
A            GRAPA      16370G         CCSID(1200) VARLEN
A            GRAPB      16370G         CCSID(13488) VARLEN