Re: Like, is there a LIKE like operator that functions with LONG columns?

Hagen Finley <hagen_at_violet.berkeley.edu> wrote:
>I have entered text into Long columns in serveral tables, not realizing
>that the LIKE operator is limited to VARCHAR and VARCHAR2 columns. So
>now, of course, I want to do word match searches and I get error
>messages about using LIKE with LONG columns. My columns are probably
>about 4K, so that's not exactly huge based on the LONG capacity. Is
>there a means of conducting word match searches with the LONG datatype?

You cannot query a LONG datatype in Oracle. Although you could possibly write gallons of Pro*C to do it.
Oracle have a product TextRetrieval which I think now comes as part of ConText package or something. Anyway, that package will allow searches of LONG datayypes. I heard a rumour that Oracle 7.3 (or 8, I'm not sure which) allows the use of CONSISTS which also can be used on LONGs.

Hope this throws some light on your problem.

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