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