Patrice, The only reason I can think of creating a column with a datatype of ROWID, is in order to store a rowid. Why you need to "store" the rowid escapes me as the rowid is available as a pseudocolumn anyway.
It is also dangerous to "store" this rowid in a column, as it can change. During and import/export as you said, but also on partitioned tables if the partitioning key value changes and the table has been setup to allow the row movement Just my 2c Paul -----Original Message----- Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2002 1:18 PM To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L Can someone explain to me why some developers like to create ROWID datatype columns in their tables? I am wondering why they sometimes do that instead of using primary keys. I searched for info on this on the Web, but nothing. ROWID access is probably faster than index access, I guess. I vaguely remember my Oracle instructor saying about four years ago that using ROWIDs was bad practice in most cases, but I can't remember exactly why he said that. ROWIDs are not reliable, when exports/imports take place and between COMMITS if many users access the same table, if the row could be dropped and re-created. Are there other reasons why someone might not want to use ROWID columns? I am just fishing for opinions. Thanks. Regards, Patrice Boivin Systems Analyst (Oracle Certified DBA) -- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com -- Author: Boivin, Patrice J 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). -- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com -- Author: 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).
