RE: How does Oracle store NUMBER datatypes internally?

From: Norrell, Brian <BNorrell_at_QuadraMed.com>
Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2001 10:56:53 -0700
Message-ID: <F001.00347A4C.20010711103233@fatcity.com>

Without checking the manual (corrections welcome):

Byte 1: number of bytes for storage (# of digits divided by 2) Byte 2: where the decimal goes (not sure of exact format) Byte 3-x: pairs of digits

1576.89
gets stored something akin to:

decimal:        4 2(4?) 15 76 89
HEX:            04 02 0f 4c 59

The key point is the pairing of digits into values in the range of 0 to 99 that waste minimal space in the byte while being quick to retrieve in human readable format. The big drawback here is that almost every mathematical function is more cumbersome in this notation, and therefore slower.

Brian Norrell
Manager, MPI Development
QuadraMed
511 E John Carpenter Frwy, Su 500
Irving, TX 75062
(972) 831-6600

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2001 11:56 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L

Can someone point me a document or something that explains how does Oracle store NUMBER datatypes internally?

TIA

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Received on Wed Jul 11 2001 - 12:56:53 CDT