Re: Performance implications of increasing a varchar2 column width

From: Jonathan Gennick <jonathan_at_gennick.com>
Date: Sat, 01 May 1999 02:10:55 GMT
Message-ID: <37345813.8961773@netnews.worldnet.att.net>

On Fri, 30 Apr 1999 19:26:56 GMT, jrb_6502_at_my-dejanews.com wrote:

>This change is to permit new rows to be added that have wider data in that
>column. No changes will be made to existing data.

Taking a varchar2 column from 30 to 100 characters should not affect existing rows with less than 30 characters. Oracle will only need to expand those rows if you update them with longer values. However, and this is important, it's very likely that if you do update existing rows, and place larger values in that field, that the rows will become fragmented. The fragmentation could affect performance.

regards,

Jonathan Received on Fri Apr 30 1999 - 21:10:55 CDT