Default on object

Question

Where is the error?
CREATE TYPE "PIPPO" AS OBJECT
(COL1 NUMBER(1))
CREATE TABLE "TEST" OF PIPPO
(COL1 DEFAULT 2)
INSERT INTO "TEST" VALUES
("PIPPO"(DEFAULT))
ERROR at line 2:
ORA-00936: missing expression

Answer 1

To be fair it is not an obvious answer. The documentation is far from clear on this.
SQL> insert into pippos values (pippo());
insert into pippos values (pippo())
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-02315: incorrect number of arguments for default constructor
SQL> insert into pippos values (default)
  2  /
1 row created.
SQL>Hurrah! Except ...
SQL> select * from pippos
  2  /
      COL1
SQL> Hmmm, well that's no good, is it?
there are a couple of alternatives. One is write a user defined constructor...
alter type pippo add
    constructor function pippo return self as result cascade;
create or replace type body pippo as
    constructor function pippo return self as result
    is
        self.col1 := 2;
        return;
    end pippo;
end;
/Note that UDCs were only introduced in 9iR2. Alternatively we can change the way we define the table...
create table pippos
(col1 pippo default = pippo(2))
/This approach necessitates a slightly different way of using the table.
If anybody has a third alternative, or can explain why the original solution didn't work, eager minds are keen to learn.
Cheers, APC,