The original question was about taking the value in a LOB column and putting it in a LONG. If the value is more than 32K in size, there is no way to do that using PL/SQL or SQL in Oracle. A program will need to be written using OCI calls (or an interface to OCI calls - which I presume is what Perl does) or Pro*C or another similar language. It is possible in PL/SQL to RETRIEVE all the data in a LONG column, even if the data is more than 32K, but it is not possible to INSERT into a LONG column when the data is more than 32K. -----Original Message----- Jared Still Ah well, it can be done directly with 100% PL/SQL. You just need to convert the long via the to_log() function. It does require that you use a global temporary table as an intermediary, but it can be done. =20 I'm citing from memory, so you best look at the to_lob() function in the SQL reference manual. Of course, you could do it with Perl and DBI. It would=20 be quite a bit easier than PL/SQL, as it avoids the=20 intermediary table. On Mon, 18 Oct 2004 18:16:28 -0400, Bobak, Mark >=20 > Sorry to say, I think you're looking at implementing a Pro*C solution. >=20 > I know it can be done via Pro*C. I don't think you'll find any > direct SQL or PL/SQL solution. >=20 >=20 > -----Original Message----- > bonnergj@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >=20 > ... > I have a work table that has a clob on it as one of the columns. I need =3D > to > copy the row from the clob table into the table with the long. > This is all done in a stored procedure that gets called when needed. I =3D > go > through a loop that parses the > clob into varchar2 chunks and then concatenates them into a plsql long > datatype. Problem is a plsql long > datatype can only be 32k. Some of the clobs are longer and thus the > problem. > There are built-in functions to convert/load from a long to a clob but =3D > I > haven't been able to find a way of going the other way. > Longs on tables can hold 2gig but a plsql long can only handle 32k. > Does anyone out there have any ideas how I could do this? > I have tried every possible scenario I can think of with no success. -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l