Try using VARCHAR2(4) instead of CHAR(4) ? Cheers Stefan On Mon, Aug 18, 2008 at 3:38 PM, Peter Hitchman <pjhoraclel@xxxxxxxxx>wrote: > Hi, > Oracle version 11.1.0.6 > > Any ideas why when I run this ddl: > > CREATE TABLE PILOT1_METADATA > ( > PATENT_SK NUMBER(9) NOT NULL > ,COLLECTION_ID VARCHAR2(8) NOT NULL > ,PDOC_COUNTRY CHAR(2) NOT NULL > ,PDOC_SERIAL NUMBER(12) NOT NULL > ,PDOC_KIND VARCHAR2(2) NOT NULL > ,KI_SHORT CHAR(4) GENERATED ALWAYS AS (SUBSTR(PDOC_KIND,1,1)) VIRTUAL > ,PUBLICATION_DATE DATE NOT NULL > ,PUBLICATION_WEEK NUMBER(6) NOT NULL > ,PUBLICATION_YEAR NUMBER(4) NOT NULL > ,APPLICATION_NUMBER VARCHAR2(15) NOT NULL > ,APPLICATION_DATE DATE NOT NULL > ,STATUS VARCHAR2(3) > ,MOD_DATE DATE > ) > / > > the result is: > > ORA-12899: value too large for column "KI_SHORT" (actual: 1, maximum: 4) > > I changed the column definition of PDOC_KIND to CHAR(4) and the table > builds and then an insert creates the correct virtual data. > > Thanks > > Pete > > > -- ========================= Stefan P Knecht Senior Consultant Infrastructure Managed Services Trivadis AG Europa-Strasse 5 CH-8152 Glattbrugg Phone +41-44-808 70 20 Fax +41-808 70 12 Mobile +41-79-571 36 27 stefan.knecht@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.trivadis.com OCP 9i/10g SCSA SCNA =========================