Oracle SQL: the Essential Reference

DUMP

DUMP(expr [,return_format [,start_position [,length]]])

Returns a VARCHAR2 string showing the datatype and the internal representation of data stored within a column or of the data returned by an expression.

Parameters

expr

Specifies the data to be dumped. This parameter can be a column name or a valid SQL expression.

return_format

Specifies a format that controls the manner in which the dumped data is formatted:

8

Use octal notation.

10

Use decimal notation. This is the default.

16

Use hexadecimal notation.

17

Display the result using characters.

If you add 1000 to the format specifier, the name of the character set will be returned as well. This is useful only when you dump a character column or the result of a character expression.

start_position

Specifies a starting byte for the data to be dumped. The default is to start with the first byte of data.

length

Specifies a number of bytes to dump. The default is to dump all the data.

Examples

SQL> SELECT DUMP(SYSDATE) FROM dual;

DUMP(SYSDATE)
--------------------------------------
Typ=13 Len=8: 208,7,5,21,16,59,57,0

SQL> SELECT DUMP('Hi There',16) FROM dual;

DUMP('HITHERE',16)
-------------------------------------
Typ=96 Len=8: 48,69,20,54,68,65,72,65

SQL> SELECT DUMP('Hi There',1016) FROM dual; DUMP('HITHERE',1016) ----------------------------------------------------------- Typ=96 Len=8 CharacterSet=US7ASCII: 48,69,20,54,68,65,72,65 ...