Re: varchar2 columns and space question

JJ Reynolds wrote:
>
> I remember reading somewhere in my Oracle documentation that you should
> always put the fields that are least likely to have data last in your
> table definition because Oracle can make better use of space by trimming
> the row. Is there any truth to this?

I think this is probably true of older database systems. Oracle, at least the newer versions, distributes the information in wildly unpredictable fashions, such that it probably won't make any significant difference.

Just because two columns are next to each other in your schema doesn't mean they're next to each other on disk.

However, I'd say that unless you're dealing with literally millions of rows, that it's probably not worth the effort trying conserve space in this manner. For the more typical application, buying an extra hard disk would cost less than using the extra labor.

Just some thoughts from a madman (altho I think I =might= have been sane before starting =this= project ... can't be sure ...)

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