V8 DBNAME is now VARCHAR(24) and padded to 8 bytes in catalog  Problem Columns, like DBNAME, which used to be CHAR(8), are now defined as VARCHAR(24). Previously, columns shorter than the original CHAR(8) contained blanks to pad the column up to 8 characters. Now, these column still contain the blanks, even with the newly defined VARCHAR(24) column.
Will these newly converted columns always be padded to their previously defined length?

Cause
Certain columns, such as DBNAME, in the DB2® V8 catalog were altered from CHAR to VARCHAR in the migration process to accommodate longer object names.

Solution
Names less than 8 characters long appear as VARCHAR(8) in the catalog because some of the internal control structures from previous versions which were CHAR(8) are still being used for these shorter names. Thus, they are padded with blanks. In most cases, this behavior does not affect other processes, but, in some cases, your application might need to be changed to handle this behavior.
DB2 does not guarantee that the behavior will always be this way.

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With kind regards
Michael Dewert, Software Group
DB2 Information Management Software