Preamble
Below is a list of data types available in Oracle/PLSQL, which includes character, numeric, date/time, Boolean LOB, RowId data types.
Symbolic data types
Below are the character data types in Oracle/PLSQL:
| Data Types | Size | Description |
| char(size) | Maximum size is 2000 bytes. | Where the size is the number of characters of a fixed length. If the stored value is shorter, it is supplemented with spaces; if it is longer, an error is generated. |
| nchar(size) | Maximum size is 2000 bytes. | Where Size – the number of characters of fixed length in Unicode encoding. If the stored value is shorter, it is supplemented with spaces; if it is longer, an error is generated. |
| nvarchar2(size) | Maximum size is 4000 bytes. | Where Size – number of saved characters in Unicode encoding of variable length. |
| varchar2(size) | Maximum size is 4000 bytes. Maximum size in PLSQL is 32KB. |
Where Size – number of saved characters of variable length. |
| long | The maximum size is 2GB. | Symbolic data of variable length. |
| raw | Maximum size is 2000 bytes. | Contains binary data of variable length. |
| long raw | The maximum size is 2GB. | Contains binary data of variable length. |
Application: Oracle 9i, Oracle 10g, Oracle 11g, Oracle 12c
Numerical data types
Below are the numeric data types in Oracle/PLSQL:
| Data Types | Size | Description |
| number(accuracy,scale) | The accuracy can be in the range of 1 to 38. The scale can be in the range of -84 to 127. |
For example, number (14.5) is a number that has 9 decimal places and 5 decimal places.
|
| numeric(accuracy,scale) | The accuracy can be in the range of 1 to 38. |
For example, numeric(14,5) is a number that has 9 decimal places and 5 decimal places.
|
| dec(accuracy,scale) | The accuracy can be in the range of 1 to 38. |
For example, dec (5,2) is a number that has 3 digits before the decimal point and 2 digits after.
|
| decimal(accuracy,scale) | The accuracy can be in the range of 1 to 38. |
For example, decimal (5,2) is a number that has 3 digits before the decimal point and 2 digits after.
|
| PLS_INTEGER | Integer numbers ranging from -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647 |
PLS_INTEGER value requires less memory and faster NUMBER values.
|
| Maximum size is 2000 bytes. | Contains binary data of variable length. | |
| long raw | The maximum size is 2GB. | Contains binary data of variable length. |
Application: Oracle 9i, Oracle 10g, Oracle 11g, Oracle 12c
Date/time data types
Below are the date/time data types in Oracle/PLSQL:
| Data Types | Size |
| date | The date may take values from 1 January 4712 BC to 31 December 9999 AD. |
Application: Oracle 9i, Oracle 10g, Oracle 11g, Oracle 12c
Large objects (LOB) data types
The LOB data types in Oracle/PLSQL are listed below:
| Data Types | Size | Description |
| bfile | Maximum file size 4 GB. |
File locators, points to the binary file in the server file system (outside the database).
|
| blob | Stores up to 4 GB of binary data. | Stores unstructured binary large objects. |
| clob | Stores up to 4 GB of character data. | Stores single-byte and multi-byte character data. |
| nclob | Stores up to 4 GB of character text data. | Saves data in unicode encoding. |
Application: Oracle 9i, Oracle 10g, Oracle 11g, Oracle 12c
Rowid data type
The Rowid data types in Oracle/PLSQL are listed below:
| Data Types | Format | Description |
| rowid | The format of the line:BBBBBB.RRRR.FFFFF, Where BBBBB is a block in a database file; RRRR is a string in a block; FFFFF is a database file. |
Fixed-length binary data. Each record in the database has a physical address or rowid.
|
Boolean (BOOLEAN) data types
| Data Types | Format | Description |
| BOOLEAN | TRUE or FALSE. Can take value NULL |
Stores logical values that you can use in logical operations.
|
Application: Oracle 9i, Oracle 10g, Oracle 11g, Oracle 12c
Oracle SQL Tutorial; Intro to Data Types
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