Evaluate value if numeric

Question

HI,
is there a simple way to evaluate a value if it is numeric or not?
such that,
if is_numeric(v_val) then
return 'this is numeric';
else
return 'this is not numeric';
end if;thanks!
BROKEN

Answer 1

It kind of depends on what you are expecting to pass into it, and what you mean by "if it is numeric or not"
SQL> SELECT num, is_numeric(num)
  2  FROM (SELECT '1234.56' num FROM dual
  3        UNION ALL
  4        SELECT '1,234.56' FROM dual
  5        UNION ALL
  6        SELECT '-1234.56' FROM dual
  7        UNION ALL
  8        SELECT '12e3' FROM dual
  9        UNION ALL
10        SELECT '12a3' FROM dual);
NUM      IS_NUMERIC(NUM)
1234.56                1
1,234.56               0
-1234.56               1
12e3                   1
12a3                   0Is 1,234.56 numeric? How about 12e3? Is an IP address numeric by your definition?
HTH
John