The following table describes conversions to and from types modified by DBTYPE_BYREF. Type indicators X and Y are unmodified by DBTYPE_BYREF.
| Source type indicator | Target type indicator | Notes |
| X | Y | DBTYPE_BYREF | If Y is a variable-length data type and the provider supports a conversion from X to Y, the provider must support this conversion. If Y is not a variable-length data type, it is provider-specific whether this conversion is supported. Any such conversions must follow the rules in this appendix. For information about further restrictions when memory is provider-owned, see the description of dwMemOwner in "DBBINDING Structures" in Chapter 6. |
| X | DBTYPE_BYREF | Y | If X equals Y, the provider must support this conversion. |
| If X is not equal to Y, the provider supports this if and only if it supports a conversion from X to Y. Any such conversions must follow the rules in this appendix. | ||
| X | DBTYPE_BYREF | Y | DBTYPE_BYREF | The provider must support this conversion if it supports a conversion from X to Y | DBTYPE_BYREF. Any such conversions must follow the rules in this appendix. |