SQL Types

SQL Types

Here are the SQL types supported by Lucee.

All are supported with and without the CF_SQL_ prefix (ACF too since 11):

  • CF_SQL_ARRAY / ARRAY
  • CF_SQL_BIGINT / BIGINT
  • CF_SQL_BINARY / BINARY
  • CF_SQL_BIT / BIT
  • CF_SQL_BOOLEAN / BOOLEAN
  • CF_SQL_BLOB / BLOB
  • CF_SQL_CHAR / CHAR
  • CF_SQL_CLOB / CLOB
  • CF_SQL_DATALINK / DATALINK
  • CF_SQL_DATE / DATE
  • CF_SQL_DISTINCT / DISTINCT
  • CF_SQL_NUMERIC / NUMERIC
  • CF_SQL_DECIMAL / DECIMAL
  • CF_SQL_DOUBLE / DOUBLE
  • CF_SQL_REAL / REAL
  • CF_SQL_FLOAT / FLOAT
  • CF_SQL_TINYINT / TINYINT
  • CF_SQL_SMALLINT / SMALLINT
  • CF_SQL_STRUCT / STRUCT
  • CF_SQL_INTEGER / INTEGER
  • CF_SQL_VARCHAR / VARCHAR
  • CF_SQL_NVARCHAR / NVARCHAR
  • CF_SQL_VARCHAR2 / VARCHAR2
  • CF_SQL_LONGVARBINARY / LONGVARBINARY
  • CF_SQL_VARBINARY / VARBINARY
  • CF_SQL_LONGVARCHAR / LONGVARCHAR
  • CF_SQL_TIME / TIME
  • CF_SQL_TIMESTAMP / TIMESTAMP
  • CF_SQL_REF / REF
  • CF_SQL_REFCURSOR / REFCURSOR
  • CF_SQL_OTHER / OTHER
  • CF_SQL_NULL / NULL

Since 5.3.6.16

  • CF_SQL_NCHAR / NCHAR
  • CF_SQL_NVARCHAR / NVARCHAR
  • CF_SQL_LONGNVARCHAR / LONGNVARCHAR
  • CF_SQL_NCLOB / NCLOB
  • CF_SQL_SQLXML / SQLXML

Since 5.3.8.109

  • CF_SQL_DATETIME / DATETIME

Usage Examples

Using cfquery with cfqueryparam

<cfquery name="qUsers" datasource="myDB">
	SELECT  *
	FROM 	users
	WHERE 	username = <cfqueryparam value="#username#" cfsqltype="VARCHAR">
			AND age >= <cfqueryparam value="#minAge#" cfsqltype="INTEGER">
			AND created_date > <cfqueryparam value="#startDate#" cfsqltype="TIMESTAMP">
			AND is_active = <cfqueryparam value="#isActive#" cfsqltype="BIT">
</cfquery>

Using queryExecute with parameter struct

qUsers = queryExecute(
    "SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = :username AND age >= :minAge",
    {
        username: { value: username, cfsqltype: "VARCHAR" },
        minAge: { value: minAge, cfsqltype: "INTEGER" }
    },
    { datasource: "myDB" }
);

Using queryExecute with positional parameters

qUsers = queryExecute(
    "SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = ? AND age >= ?",
    [
        { value: username, cfsqltype: "VARCHAR" },
        { value: minAge, cfsqltype: "INTEGER" }
    ],
    { datasource: "myDB" }
);

Common SQL Type Usage

// Strings
{ value: "John", cfsqltype: "VARCHAR" }
{ value: "A", cfsqltype: "CHAR" }

// Numbers
{ value: 42, cfsqltype: "INTEGER" }
{ value: 99.99, cfsqltype: "DECIMAL" }
{ value: 12345678901, cfsqltype: "BIGINT" }

// Dates and Times
{ value: now(), cfsqltype: "TIMESTAMP" }
{ value: dateFormat( now(), "yyyy-mm-dd" ), cfsqltype: "DATE" }
{ value: timeFormat( now(), "HH:mm:ss" ), cfsqltype: "TIME" }

// Boolean
{ value: true, cfsqltype: "BIT" }
{ value: false, cfsqltype: "BOOLEAN" }

// Binary
{ value: fileReadBinary( filePath ), cfsqltype: "BLOB" }

// Null values
{ value: "", null: true, cfsqltype: "VARCHAR" }

Why Use SQL Types?

Using the correct SQL type provides several benefits:

  1. Security: Prevents SQL injection attacks by properly escaping values
  2. Performance: Helps the database optimize query execution
  3. Data Integrity: Ensures values are properly converted to the correct database type
  4. Compatibility: Works consistently across different database engines

Notes

  • You can use either the CF_SQL_ prefix or just the type name (e.g., VARCHAR instead of CF_SQL_VARCHAR)
  • The CF_SQL_ prefix style is more explicit but longer
  • Always use SQL types with dynamic values to prevent SQL injection
  • The null attribute can be used with any SQL type to pass NULL values to the database

Breaking Change in Lucee 6.0

Important: Prior to Lucee 6, cfqueryparam would automatically cast empty strings to NULL.

With Lucee 6, this behavior changed to match Adobe ColdFusion. Empty strings are no longer automatically converted to NULL.

Before (Lucee 5):

<cfquery name="qUsers" datasource="myDB">
    SELECT * FROM users
    WHERE id = <cfqueryparam value="#userID#" cfsqltype="INTEGER">
</cfquery>
<!-- If userID was an empty string, it would become NULL -->

After (Lucee 6):

<cfquery name="qUsers" datasource="myDB">
    SELECT * FROM users
    WHERE id = <cfqueryparam
                value="#len( trim( userID ) ) ? userID : javaCast( 'null', '' )#"
                cfsqltype="INTEGER"
                null="#not len( trim( userID ) )#">
</cfquery>
<!-- Explicitly handle empty strings -->

Affected SQL Types

The following SQL types no longer auto-convert empty strings to NULL:

  • INTEGER, BIGINT, SMALLINT, TINYINT
  • DECIMAL, NUMERIC, DOUBLE, FLOAT, REAL
  • DATE, TIME, TIMESTAMP, DATETIME
  • BIT, BOOLEAN

Migration

If you need the old behavior temporarily during migration, set the environment variable:

LUCEE_QUERY_ALLOWEMPTYASNULL=true

However, it's recommended to explicitly handle NULL values in your code for better clarity and to match Adobe ColdFusion behavior.

See breaking-changes-6-0 and Lucee 5 to 6 Migration Guide for more details.

See also