you are blowing the size of the variable - use varchar2 instead as your string is being padded with spaces On 2/8/06, Roger Xu <roger_xu@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > SQL> !cat /tmp/abc.sql > set serveroutput on > set verify off > > declare > > a_strng CHAR(50); > a_ATWRT CHAR(30); > > begin > > a_ATWRT := 'World'; > a_strng := 'Hello'; > a_strng := a_ATWRT || a_strng; > dbms_output.put_line ( a_strng); > > end; > > /