Kevin, your memory is failing you. There is no DBMS_LOB package in 7.3,
since there was no LOB then (and this package is useless against LONGs
before 8i). It's very difficult to get the length of a LONG or LONG RAW
(the reason why all data dictionary tables which store LONGs (SYS.VIEW$,
SYS.COL$, SYS.TRIG$ ...) also have a column to give its length). Short
of Pro*C or OCI, which can get it (albeit with some difficulty - not
quite straightforward), the best solution is probably an anonymous
PL/SQL block which fetches the LONG RAW into a VARCHAR2 variable.
Unfortunately, since doing so will translate the LONG RAW into an
hexadecimal string (twice longer than the actual length) and since a
PL/SQL VARCHAR2 cannot be bigger than 32K, there is a 16K practical
limit to the method. And unfortunately you cannot make your PL/SQL code
a function, since applying a function to a LONG RAW is forbidden.
--
Regards,
Stephane Faroult
Oriole Corporation
Voice: +44 (0) 7050-696-269
Fax: +44 (0) 7050-696-449
Performance Tools & Free Scripts
--------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.oriole.com, designed by Oracle DBAs for Oracle DBAs
--------------------------------------------------------------
Kevin Lange wrote:
>
> Don't be ashamed.......... 7.3.4 is a great version of oracle.
>
> You should take a look at the provided set of built-in packages. In
> particular, the one called DBMS_LOB.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2001 12:51 PM
> To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L
>
> I am embarrassed to admit that we still have a database running 7.3.4
> Anyone know how to determine the size of a long raw column in this old
> environment?
>
> TIA,
>
> --
> Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com
> --
> Author: Michael Barger
> INET: mbarger_at_verio.net
--
Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com
--
Author: Stephane Faroult
INET: sfaroult_at_oriole.com
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Received on Tue Jul 17 2001 - 14:21:59 CDT
