I'll address your second question, because I don't know, offhand, the answer to the first!
IMO, there's almost no advantage to using LONG. There are many restrictions on its use (e.g., only one LONG in a table), you can't apply a function to a LONG column, you can't use it in a set operation, etc. In addition, Oracle says that the LONG datatype will soon be phased out. If you can fit your data into 4000 or fewer characters, use VARCHAR2. If not, go for CLOB/BLOB, which require a little more overhead, but are much more useable than LONG. Paul Baumgartel Adept Computer Associates, Inc. [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- "Rusnak, George A." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Group, > Please share with me a way to determine the actual length of data in > a LONG > data type. As a follow on, what are the pros/cons of using LONG vs. > CLOB or > VARCHAR2 ?? > > TIA > > Al Rusnak > 804-734-8453 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -- > Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com > -- > Author: Rusnak, George A. > 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). __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - live college hoops coverage http://sports.yahoo.com/ -- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com -- Author: Paul Baumgartel 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).