Change from Long to Varchar2(2000)

Dear all experts,

        I want to alter the datatype of a column from 'LONG' to 'VARCHAR2(2000)'. But when I issue the following sql,

alter table mytable modify (mycolumn varchar2(2000));

The following error occurs,
ORA-01439: column to be modified must be empty to change datatype

In my case, I cannot update all the non-null column to null and then alter the table since it is very large. Can anyone give me a helping hand?

Thanks!!

Cyrus Received on Thu Mar 12 1998 - 00:00:00 CST