ordering alphanumerical columns

Hi,

I have a table with 1 column (=name), which is declared as: Varchar2 (because there can be numbers as well as strings).

My table has 6 rows with the contents: '1', '2', '3', 'A', 'B' and 'C'.

select * from table where name > '2';
Has as result: '3', 'A', 'B', 'C'

select * from table order by name
Has as result: 'A', 'B', 'C', '1', '2', '3'

That means:
 Within "where" : 'A' > '2' is true
 Within "order by" : 'A' > '2' is false

What's the reason for this strange behaviour ? And how can I force the "order by" statement to sort 'A' > '2' ?

Please response to me if you have any ideas or solutions ! Thanks in advance.
  Ralf Received on Mon Mar 17 2003 - 15:45:04 CET