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Home -> Community -> Usenet -> c.d.o.misc -> Re: Definition of 'shape'
On Wed, 05 Apr 2006 20:38:54 +0000, Geoff wrote:
> Very odd that the word shape is used so much in the db world but the
> vendors do not use it and it is not in the glossary of any oracle
> document. One person said 'shape' can't be defined. Like I said, very
> strange that a word that can't be defined is used so much in oracle app
> code. Java even has a 'getHostVarShape' method.
>
> What is the definition of 'shape'?
>
Shape, from a database perspective, is the signature of a table or materialized view - that is, the list of columns and the datatype and size of each one.
The term is used (and defined) in a number of error messages:
ORA-12060: shape of prebuilt table does not match definition query
Cause: The number of columns or the type or the length semantics of a
column in the prebuilt table did not match the materialized view
definition query.
Action: Reissue the SQL command using BUILD IMMEDIATE, BUILD
DEFERRED, or ensure that the prebuilt table matches the
materialized view definition query.
and
ORA-23370: table string and table string are not shape equivalent (string)
Cause: The tables specified are not shape equivalent, which means
intuitively that the number of columns, the names, their datatypes
and lengths are not the same. Specifically, problem is in the
parentheses and is one of the following: the number of columns are
not equal, datatypes of columns with same name in different tables
are different, lengths of varchar2 and char columns are not equal,
precision and scale of number datatypes are not equal.
Action: Make sure the two tables being compared have the same
number of columns, same column names, and same datatypes.
--
Hans Forbrich
Canada-wide Oracle training and consulting
mailto: Fuzzy.GreyBeard_at_gmail.com
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