A Qlik Replicate administrator is replicating data from a source system with some columns with large PDFs. Which data type should be used?

PDFs are binary files, not text. The appropriate data type for storing large binary data, such as documents, images, or multimedia files, is a BLOB (Binary Large Object). Qlik Replicate is designed to handle LOB data types to efficiently replicate large, unstructured data. Using a BLOB column ensures that the binary integrity of the PDF file is maintained during replication from the source to the target system. Character-based data types like NCLOB or NVARCHAR would lead to data corruption as they are designed to handle text, not binary streams.

A. DLOB: This is not a standard or recognized Large Object (LOB) data type within Qlik Replicate or major database systems.

B. NCLOB: This data type is for National Character Large Objects (Unicode text) and is unsuitable for binary files like PDFs.

C. NVARCHAR(1000): This is a variable-length character string with a limited size, making it inappropriate for large binary files.

1. Qlik Replicate Documentation, "Working with LOBs": The official documentation distinguishes between different LOB types. It clarifies that BLOBs are used for binary data streams like images or sound files, while CLOBs and NCLOBs are for character data. This directly supports the choice of BLOB for binary PDF files. (Source: Qlik Replicate for Windows User Guide, section "Working with LOBs").

2. Qlik Replicate Documentation, "Data type support" for Oracle Source: The documentation for using Oracle as a source endpoint explicitly lists BLOB as a supported LOB data type. This confirms Replicate's capability to handle this specific data type for binary content. (Source: Qlik Replicate Help, "Using Oracle as a source" -> "Data type support").

3. Qlik Replicate Documentation, "Data type support" for Microsoft SQL Server Source: For SQL Server, data types like image and varbinary(max) are used for binary data and are supported by Replicate. These types are the SQL Server equivalents of a BLOB, reinforcing the principle of using binary types for binary files. (Source: Qlik Replicate Help, "Using Microsoft SQL Server as a source" -> "Data type support").