Jonathan, I agree, but what I am implying (maybe a bit poorly) is that due to it's anchored declaration, it will NEVER be longer than 200 bytes plus 2 for the length. Initially it will still be 2 bytes plus a NULL string, unless the column (to which it is anchored to) has a default value. Also, that max 4000 is for DB columns only, for plsql it is 32767 (2^32-1).
Tom, the way oracle allocates memory for plsql variables is if the varchar2 size (declared) is 1999 bytes or less, it is stack allocated, else it is allocated from heap. So, I'd say they would manage memory better, as majority of allocation would be from stack. In case of Robs declaration, if you assign more than 200 bytes to that variable (assuming it is a IN OUT type, otherwise you can't), I believe you will get a 6502 error. Raj ______________________________________________________ Rajendra Jamadagni MIS, ESPN Inc. Rajendra dot Jamadagni at ESPN dot com Any opinion expressed here is personal and doesn't reflect that of ESPN Inc. QOTD: Any clod can have facts, but having an opinion is an art!
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