Range check for numeric values in varchar2 type column

Question

SQL oracle 10g windows XP
I have a table which has column of type varchar2 e.g
create table osa_gms_mailbox(reg_address varchar2(60),bin_address varchar2(60));
let us insert some sample rows:
insert into osa_gms_mailbox values ('8000','8000');
insert into osa_gms_mailbox values ('9000','9000');
insert into osa_gms_mailbox values ('[email protected]','[email protected]');
If i try to run the query :
select reg_address from (
select reg_address from osa_gms_mailbox
MINUS
select reg_address from osa_gms_mailbox where
regexp_like(reg_address,'^[a-z]+|[A-Z]+$')) temp
where to_number(temp.reg_address) between 1000 and 10000;
or
select reg_address from (
select reg_address from osa_gms_mailbox
MINUS
select reg_address from osa_gms_mailbox where
regexp_like(reg_address,'^[a-z]+|[A-Z]+$'))
where to_number(reg_address) between 1000 and 10000;
it gives ORA-01722: invalid number .
how can i get the numeric comparision done for varchar2 field and exclude the rows which have atleast one alphabet (a-z,A-Z)
Thanks

Answer 1

Hi
Please check this sample , it may useful to you
/*Creating a Table*/
Create Table CHECKVARCHAR( CheckValue Varchar2(20) );
/* Inserting values in to the column with numbers and Strings */
Insert into CHECKVARCHAR Values ( 1000 );
Insert into CHECKVARCHAR values ( 2000 );
Insert into CHCEKVARCHAR values ( 10000 );
Insert into CHECKVARCHAR values ( 'Abc' );
Insert into CHECKVARCHAR values ( 'zyx' );
/*Here is the Query to avoid Invalid Number */
Select * from
( Select CheckValue
from Checkvarchar
where Ascii( Substr( CheckValue,1,1 ) ) not between 65 and 122 )
where CheckValue between 1000 and 10000;