> SQL> select column_name, data_length, char_length, char_col_decl_length > from all_tab_columns where table_name = 'FOO'; > > COLUMN_NAME DATA_LENGTH CHAR_LENGTH CHAR_COL_DECL_LENGTH > ------------------------------ ----------- ----------- ------------------- - > A 50 50 50 > B 150 50 150 > > I would have expected char_col_decl_length to be the same for both columns. So you want to see how many *characters* a column was defined to hold, despite the details how many bytes a char takes in it's charset? What about: select column_name, nls_charset_decl_len(data_length, nls_charset_id(character_set_name)) decl_char_len from dba_tab_columns where table_name = 'T123'; Tanel. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe send email to: oracle-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx put 'unsubscribe' in the subject line. -- Archives are at //www.freelists.org/archives/oracle-l/ FAQ is at //www.freelists.org/help/fom-serve/cache/1.html -----------------------------------------------------------------