BLOB

A BLOB (Binary Large Object) is an Oracle data type that can hold up to 4 GB of data. BLOB's are handy for storing digitized information (e.g., images, audio, video).

Examples

Create a table containing a BLOB column:

CREATE TABLE lob_table (id NUMBER, doc BLOB);
INSERT INTO lob_table VALUES (1, EMPTY_BLOB()); 

Load an external file into the table:

DECLARE
  src_lob  BFILE := BFILENAME('MY_DIR', '/tmp/me.gif');
  dest_lob BLOB;
BEGIN
  INSERT INTO lob_table VALUES(2, EMPTY_BLOB())
     RETURNING doc INTO dest_lob;

  DBMS_LOB.OPEN(src_lob, DBMS_LOB.LOB_READONLY);
  DBMS_LOB.LoadFromFile( DEST_LOB => dest_lob,
                         SRC_LOB  => src_lob,
                         AMOUNT   => DBMS_LOB.GETLENGTH(src_lob) );
  DBMS_LOB.CLOSE(src_lob);

  COMMIT;
END;
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Also see

• CLOB - Character large Object
• NCLOB - similar to CLOB, but characters are stored in a multibyte national character set

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