Re: Type Aliases

A copy of this was sent to Jenda_at_Krynicky.cz (Jenda Krynicky) (if that email address didn't require changing) On Wed, 28 Jul 1999 13:37:14 GMT, you wrote:

>I admit I am stupid etc. etc. etc. etc. :-)
>
>How do I define a type synonym?
>
>I would like to define eg. INT to mean NUMBER(12,0) so that I
>do not have
>to

1. int is alread a type.
2. you cannot alias types like this.

you can create object types in Oracle8 and up:

SQL> create type String as object ( s varchar2(255) )   2 /
Type created.

SQL> create table t ( x string );

Table created.

SQL> desc t

 Name                            Null?    Type
 ------------------------------- -------- ----
 X                                        STRING

SQL> desc string
 Name                            Null?    Type
 ------------------------------- -------- ----
 S                                        VARCHAR2(255)

but it is not really the same thing as you are asking (adds a level of derefening in the query -- T has an object column X that has a component S -- the column you are after is T.X.S -- not just T.X)

These types are more useful for complex/many attributed objects such as:

SQL> create type AddressType as object
  2 ( city varchar2(25),
  3 street varchar2(25),
  4 zip int
  5 )
  6 /

Type created.

SQL>
SQL> drop table t;

Table dropped.

SQL> create table t ( x AddressType );

Table created.

SQL> desc t

 Name                            Null?    Type
 ------------------------------- -------- ----
 X                                        ADDRESSTYPE

SQL> desc AddressType
 Name                            Null?    Type
 ------------------------------- -------- ----
 CITY                                     VARCHAR2(25)
 STREET                                   VARCHAR2(25)
 ZIP                                      NUMBER(38)

>write NUMBER(12,0) ever and over again and remember if I
>used 12 or
>whatever.
>
>It this possible and how ?
>
>Thanks a lot.
>
>Please do CC: me by e-mail, I need this quick.
>Sorry I know this is considered bad taste, but I realy do not
>have time
>to watch all
>newsgroups of all programs/systems/languages I need to
>work with.
>
>Jenda_at_Krynicky.cz
>http://Jenda.Krynicky.cz

--
See http://govt.us.oracle.com/~tkyte/ for my columns 'Digging-in to Oracle8i'... Current article is "Part I of V, Autonomous Transactions" updated June 21'st  

Thomas Kyte                   tkyte_at_us.oracle.com
Oracle Service Industries     Reston, VA   USA

Opinions are mine and do not necessarily reflect those of Oracle Corporation Received on Wed Jul 28 1999 - 09:48:23 CDT