Re: data type for number

"SP" <spant1_at_aol.com> wrote in message
news:Ugv95.1674$0x.53751_at_nuq-read.news.verio.net...
> This looks like a silly question but I coudn't find proper datatype for
> storing variable sized number in a table.
> http://technet.oracle.com/docs/products/oracle8i/doc_index.htm says
> datatype NUMBER stores fixed or floating point number. But what about
> variable sized number? Please help!
> SP
>

The 'number' data type covers a multitude of sins! It's variable length (up to, from memory, 38 digits). You use the precision and scale variables to determine the precise nature of the beast (eg: sal number(6,0) means it's up to six digits in length, and it's an interger, since there are no digits after the decimal point).

There's no such thing in Oracle as 'long integer', 'integer', 'byte' or all those other number types you find in things like DB2 and (gasp!) Access.

Regards
HJR
>
Received on Sun Jul 09 2000 - 00:00:00 CDT