In my previous job, ROWIDs were used left-and-right for performance benefits
(accessing a row using ROWIDs is the fastest)and were integral part of the
Appl Design at that time. Other than performance, I do not know why one
would want to use it. However, it prevented us (Tech Support, SDBA) from
table reorgs via export/import. So, we eventually faced performance problems
due to other issues. Later, the Appl was redesigned for newer versions of
oracle without relying on the ROWIDs.. 

- Kirti 


-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2002 12:18 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)
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