Hi all, thanks for your help. I mistakenly believed that number of columns in the row header always equals no of table's columns. In fact, it doesn't. It was my mistake. Thanks again Ed > > > If the new column is nullable, it should very little time, > since all that happens is an update to the dictionary. If > it is not null, then the column will have to be physically > added to each row with a value. > > >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 04/05/01 07:15AM >>> > Hello List > > We are going to change structure of a big table (more than > 250.000.000 > rows). > We need to add a column with NUMBER type. > I'm unclear how Oracle do this operation. > Does it mean that Oracle have to read and reformat all table > blocks in order to update each row header? > If yes, I can suggest that estimation of the operation's > time is about > time of Full Table Scan on the table. > Is it correct? Please explain. > > Ed -- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com -- Author: Shevtsov, Eduard INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fat City Network Services -- (858) 538-5051 FAX: (858) 538-5051 San Diego, California -- Public Internet access / Mailing Lists -------------------------------------------------------------------- To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing).
