Interesting, I wonder if this is 4000 bytes then for 9i and the manual was not updated? I will ask about this.
So, this implies that my original answer would be b or c (depending on 9i behavior). This is what I understood Oracle to be telling me. RF Robert G. Freeman - Oracle8i OCP Oracle DBA Technical Lead CSX Midtier Database Administration The Cigarette Smoking Man: Anyone who can appease a man's conscience can take his freedom away from him. -----Original Message----- Sent: Wednesday, March 06, 2002 4:47 PM To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L Hi listers, continuing on varchar2 memory cost in PL/SQL, note this found in Oracle 8i/9i PL/SQL user guide : (Chapter 3 PL/SQL Datatypes - Character types - Varchar2) "Small VARCHAR2 variables are optimized for performance, and larger ones are optimized for efficient memory use. The cutoff point is 2000 bytes. For a VARCHAR2 that is 2000 bytes or longer, PL/SQL dynamically allocates only enough memory to hold the actual value. For a VARCHAR2 variable that is shorter than 2000 bytes, PL/SQL preallocates the full declared length of the variable. For example, if you assign the same 500-byte value to a VARCHAR2(2000 BYTE) variable and to a VARCHAR2(1999 BYTE) variable, the former takes up 500 bytes and the latter takes up 1999 bytes. " HTH Regards Gilles Parc carpe diem !! -- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com -- Author: Gilles PARC 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: Freeman, Robert 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).
