I am connected to an Oracle8 Database on Windows NT SP5, we have a table with a column of datatype varchar2(4), however its length is reported as 5. Any reason/s as to why this is happening? I have done a describe and a select of the table below. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Susan. Connected to: Oracle8 Enterprise Edition Release 8.0.5.0.0 - Production PL/SQL Release 8.0.5.0.0 - Production SQL> desc instruments Name Null? Type ------------------------------- -------- ---- INSTR_ID VARCHAR2(18) INSTR_NUMBER VARCHAR2(4) INSTR_RECEIVEDDATE DATE INSTR_ACTIVE CHAR(1) INSTR_DESCRIPTION VARCHAR2(500) INSTR_AMENDRREVOCREFNO VARCHAR2(10) INSTR_FILENETID VARCHAR2(15) INSTR_TYPE VARCHAR2(4) INSTR_TRANSID VARCHAR2(18) INSTR_VERIFIED CHAR(1) INSTR_VERIFIEDDATE DATE INSTR_PAYMENT CHAR(1) SQL> select instr_id, instr_number, LENGTH(INSTR_NUMBER) 2 from instruments 3 where instr_id like 'BS19981972%'; INSTR_ID INST LENGTH(INSTR_NUMBER) ------------------ ---- -------------------- BS199819720046 D 00 5 BS199819721057 D 00 5 BS199819722068 D 00 5 BS199819723079 D 00 5 BS199819724080 D 00 5 BS199819725091 D 00 5 BS199819726002 D 00 5 BS199819727013 D 00 5 BS199819728024 D 00 5 BS199819729035 D 00 5 10 rows selected. SQL> SQL> -- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com -- Author: Susan Trumpet 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).
