The table below lists the Open PL/I data types, along with the alignment and size of their machine representations.
Alignment is the same for Intel, AIX/Power, and Sun SPARC, unless otherwise specified.
| Data Type | Size | Alignment: aligned data | Alignment: unaligned data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed Binary Signed (p <= 7) 1 | 1 byte | 1 byte | byte |
| Fixed Binary Signed (8 <= p <= 15) | 2 bytes | 2 bytes | byte |
| Fixed Binary Signed (16 <= p <= 31) | 4 bytes | 4 bytes | byte |
| Fixed Binary Signed (32 <= p <= 63) | 8 bytes |
4 bytes (32-bit system) 8 bytes (64-bit system) |
byte |
| Fixed Binary Unsigned (p <= 8) 2 | 1 byte | 1 byte | byte |
| Fixed Binary Unsigned (9 <= p <= 16) | 2 bytes | 2 bytes | byte |
| Fixed Binary Unsigned (17 <= p <= 32) | 4 bytes | 4 bytes | byte |
| Fixed Binary Unsigned (33 <= p <= 64) | 8 bytes |
4 bytes (32-bit system) 8 bytes (64-bit system) |
byte |
| Fixed Decimal (p,q) | [(p+2)/2] bytes | byte | byte |
| Float Binary (p <= 23) | 4 bytes | 4 bytes | byte |
| Float Binary (p > 23) | 8 bytes | 4 bytes (Intel 32-bit),
8 bytes ( Intel 64-bit, Sparc, RS/6000) |
byte |
| Float Decimal (p<=7) DFP | 4 bytes | 4 bytes | byte |
| Float Decimal (p < p <= 16) DFP | 8 bytes | 8 bytes | byte |
| Float Decimal (16 < Float Decimal (16 < p <= 34) DFP | 16 bytes | 8 bytes | byte |
| Float Decimal (p) BCD | 12 bytes | 4 bytes | byte |
| Character (n) | n bytes | byte | byte |
| Character (n) Varying | n+2 bytes | 2 bytes | byte |
| Character (n) Varyingz | n+1 bytes | byte | byte |
| Graphic(n) | n*2 bytes | byte | byte |
| Graphic(n) Varying | n*2+2 bytes | 2 bytes | byte |
| Graphic(n) Varyingz | n*2+2 bytes | byte | byte |
| Widechar (n) | n*2 bytes | byte | byte |
| Widechar (n) Varying | n*2+2 bytes | Half-word | byte |
| Widechar(n) Varyingz | n*2+1 bytes | byte | byte |
| Bit (n) | n bits | bit | bit |
| Bit (n) Aligned | [(n+7)/8] bytes | byte | – |
| Pointer (32-bit) | 4 bytes | 4 bytes | byte |
| Pointer (64-bit) | 8 bytes | 8 bytes | byte |
| Picture | n bytes | byte | byte |
| Label | 8 bytes | 4 bytes | byte |
| Entry Variable (32-bit) | 8 bytes | 4 bytes | byte |
| Entry Variable (64-bit) | 16 bytes | 8 bytes | byte |
| File Variable (32-bit) | 4 bytes | 4 bytes | byte |
| File Variable (64-bit) | 8 bytes | 8 bytes | byte |
| Entry Limited (32-bit) | 4 bytes | 4 bytes | byte |
| Entry Limited (64-bit) | 8 bytes | 8 bytes | byte |
| Structure3 | sum of members + gaps for alignment | max of members | byte |
| Area (n) | (((n+7)/8)*8)+8 bytes | 8 bytes | – |
| Offset | 4 bytes | 4 bytes | byte |
Subsequent sections provide additional information about the size, alignment, internal representation including byte ordering, and range, where applicable.
The byte ordering on the IBM RS/6000 and Sun SPARC platforms is Big Endian, while the Intel-based platforms have Little Endian byte ordering.
In the descriptions of data types that follow, the alignment specified is the default, which is ALIGNED for all data types except Bit. For the alignment of each data type with the UNALIGNED attribute, refer to the table above.