RE: what's the size of a date field?

The size is 7.

avg_row_len includes the row header.

dba_tab_columns.data_length has the "correct" result 7.

The length function applies to varchar2 fields, so the date is converted to a character using your default date format, and the length of the string is returned. length ('06-OCT-03') = 9

> -----Original Message-----
> elain he
>
> I'm trying to figure out the size (in bytes) of a DATE
> column. Executing the
> three queries below returned me three different values. Is
> there any way of
> finding the size of a date column in the database?
>
> select * from testing;
> DOB
> ---------
> 06-OCT-03
>
>
> desc testing
> Name
>
> Null? Type
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> ----------
> -------- -------------
> DOB
>
> DATE
>
>
> select avg_row_len from user_tables where table_name='TESTING';
> AVG_ROW_LEN
> -----------
> 11
>
>
> select data_length from dba_Tab_columns where table_name='TESTING';
> DATA_LENGTH
> -----------
> 7
>
>
> select length (timestamp) from abc;
> LENGTH(TIMESTAMP)
> -----------------
> 9

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Author: Jacques Kilchoer
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