OnLine 5.0 Problem With FLOATs

WARNING!!! OnLine 5.0 Problem With FLOATs After migrating some databases from SE to OnLine 5.0, we discovered a problem with float values in our tables. I wanted to warn others of the problem and inquire as to ways that people may be working-around it. Basically, when a float value is multiplied by another number (integer or float?), the result is rounded to the nearest integer. For instance, with the following SQL (qty_per is FLOAT)... select part_number, qty_per, qty_per * 1.00 from part_table where qty_per > 0 and qty_per < 1 On our machine, where OnLine is now installed, we get... part_number qty_per (expression) ... part_1 0.46 0.00 part_2 0.62 1.00 ... On a different machine, where SE is still installed, we get... part_number qty_per (expression) ... part_1 0.46 0.46 part_2 0.62 0.62 ... Informix tells us that this is a known bug, corrected in 5.01. That version is scheduled to be released in April. The following work-arounds have been suggested: 1) Change float fields to decimal. 2) Change application code to manipulate float fields within C data structures. I'm not sure why this might work, and I have not confirmed that it would. 3) Multiply floats by 1.0000000001. This converts them to decimals, which work fine. 4) Ask Informix for a beta copy of 5.01. Has anyone else encountered this problem? Are there any other suggestions? Also, Informix, if you're out there... It really surprises me that 5.0 could be released with such a serious defect. Do you have any method of notifying customers about such problems? It would have been nice if this was mentioned as part of the 4-day OnLine class that I attended and also communicated to support customers. Thanks, Chris -- Chris Mazzocco (chrism@sc.hp.com) HEWLETT-PACKARD Santa Clara Site