Largest float value KDB can handle

[ekallivrousis]

Whats the largest decimal value KDB can handle. Im looking to deal with numbers that have over 17 decimal places

[davidcrossey]

Hi ekallivrousis,

The largest decimal value would be the float type as per Data types

q)(2 xexp 1023)*1+1-2 xexp -52
1.7976931348623157e+308

See here for more Double-precision floating-point format 

Also note that the q console can only display float values to 17 significant figures, e.g.

q)\P
7i
q)1.123456789
1.123457
q)\P 0 /this is eqiuvalent to \P 17
q)\P
0i
q)0.11111111111111112
0.11111111111111112
q)1.11111111111111112
1.1111111111111112

 Further reading here:

• Data types | Infinities
• System commands in q | Basics
• Precision – Basics

Hope this helps, and thanks for sharing your query on the Community portal!

Kind regards,

David