1.5. Table Column Datatypes

The most common datatypes are VARCHAR2, NUMBER, and DATE. These types handle basic column types for character strings, numbers, and columns with a time dimension. The examples in this text, including the data model in Chapter 4, use these three types. Oracle provides many other datatypes with powerful features.

Some datatypes are supplemented with built-in functions and packages. Built-in functions are available to convert a DATE between time zones. Large objects, such as CLOB and BLOB types, are supported with a PL/SQL built-in package, DBMS_LOB which enables the manipulation of 4-gigabyte objects. The following lists the datatypes available for column definitions in a table.

1.5.1. Character

VARCHAR2(n)

The VARCHAR2 ...

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