Function return size(Performance)

Question

Hi All,
Can we specify function return size. Let's say
select table_name from user_tables;
TABLE_NAME
FUNCTION_LIST
INFORMATION_DETAIL
INFORMATION_MASTER
INFORMATION_TYPE
PLAN_TABLE
BIG_TABLE_OWNERS
BIG_TABLE
IDX_STATS
EMP
DEPT
PROJECT
T
RUN_STATS
select test_mem(table_name) from user_tables;
TEST_MEM(TABLE_NAME)
FUNCTION_LIST
INFORMATION_DETAIL
INFORMATION_MASTER
INFORMATION_TYPE
PLAN_TABLE
BIG_TABLE_OWNERS
BIG_TABLE
IDX_STATS
EMP
DEPT
PROJECT
T
RUN_STATS
create or replace function test_mem(var_1 in varchar2) return varchar2 as
begin
  return var_1;
end;
/So, if you can see function return by default 4000 varchar2 and this might eat memory. Is there any way we can say or limit return bytes say like varchar2(40)

Answer 1

Even worse if they are doing Java to SQL or .NET to SQL!And even more worse if they do it without using bind variables!
And who gets the blame, always?
The database...
[dramatic mode]
stares sadly at horizon and wonders: "Poor, poor database, thou art so incredibly smart and powerful, and yet thou art so vulnerable at the same time and therefore usually hard-parsing all the time..."
[dramatic mode]
[philosophical mode]
Thus spake the proud developer: "Yay! Hooray! The database hard-parses and therefore the database is!"
[philosophical mode]
There should be a penalty for crippling database performance by doing such things.
I wonder: Can't it be built into the compiler? Imagine Oracle refusing to compile certain code, which may be syntactically correct but contains flawed logic, out of self-protection ;)