Re: converting from DB2 to Oracle: TIMESTAMP

On Tue, 09 Jul 2002 14:30:33 GMT, "Jim Kennedy" <kennedy-family_at_attbi.com> wrote:

>You might modify what you propose. Use varchar2 not char and use the server
>to put in the timestamp not the client. That way the time is consistent and
>not different because each client might have a different time drift. You
>can use Java in the database to create a function to return the timestamp in
>whatever format you want.
>Jim

<SNIP>

Since the nature of this field is that it will always be the same number of bytes, I'm not sure I understand what would be gained by making it VARCHAR2 instead of CHAR(n). On the other hand, I'm not sure I understand what would be gained by making it CHAR(n) instead of VARCHAR2.

As for writing a TIMESTAMP function, I'd have to find a Java programmer. I don't believe that in this app, the places where timestamp is used, any time diff between one client location and another would matter, but I'll bring that up with the lead programmer. Thanks for the caveat and the tip.

--
Ed Stevens
(Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of my employer.)