How do i store "TIME DURATION" in Oracle (what datatype shou i use ???)

Hello,
I am building a database of Video Tapes. Each tape (a record of the TAPE table) should have an attribute that describes the "Total Recorded Time" of the tape for example 1 Hour 25 minutes and 35 seconds. (This is not the capacity of the Tape which can be 180 minutes etc)
Also that is the format that the user will enter the recorded time of a tape through the interface , for example 3
text boxes for Hours, Minutes , Seconds. I am wondering what is the best way to store this information.

I was thinking of using 3 NUMBER fields in the Tape table (3 Attributes called HOURS , MINUTES, SECONDS)
Is that approach right ?
Then i can easily order by HOURS, MINUTES, SECONDS in my sql statement. Also i can easily enforce CHECK constraints as "check MINUTES between 0 and 59)

I think that the DATE datatype is not appropriate since there is no date concept (total number of seconds from the epoch) and then the order by clause on a DATE datatype will not make sense when i decide to order the tapes according to the Total Recorder Time.

I would like to verify that my approach is right or I would like to hear a better one.

Thanks,
Alex. Received on Wed Aug 30 2000 - 03:12:15 CDT