# "scaled\_float" datatype doesn't make much sense

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scaled-float-datatype-doesnt-make-much-sense/102441>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [October 2, 2017, 2:19pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scaled-float-datatype-doesnt-make-much-sense/102441 "2017-10-02T14:19:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![cdbfoster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cdbfoster](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/cdbfoster)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 2:19pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scaled-float-datatype-doesnt-make-much-sense/102441/1 "2017-10-02T14:19:12Z")

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Listed [here](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/number.html): "A floating point that is backed by a `long` and a fixed scaling factor."

This is literally [fixed-point](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed-point_arithmetic). It's not [floating-point](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floating-point_arithmetic), because the point doesn't "float".

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 2:19pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/scaled-float-datatype-doesnt-make-much-sense/102441/2 "2017-10-30T14:19:47Z")

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Closed on October 30, 2017, 2:19pm UTC

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