Converting from VARCHAR2 to CHAR in a view (7.1)

Hi.

I'm trying to create a view which converts from a VARCHAR2 column to a CHAR. I tried to use the following:
CREATE VIEW "VContact" AS
SELECT TO_CHAR(Description, 'SSSSS')
FROM "Contact"

however ORACLE 7.1 reports:
ERROR:
ORA-01722: invalid number

no rows selected

when I try to select from this view. Can someone please help me out with this one?

Regards,

              Igor Received on Thu Feb 19 1998 - 00:00:00 CST