Reg: LONG Update

Question

All,
I am trying to update a LONG column as like below, But i am unable to do it. Can any one please give me the solution. Image is attached.
How to perform an update against the LONG data type column.
SQL> SHOW USER
USER is "SCOTT"
SQL> CREATE TABLE LONG_TEST ( ID NUMBER, LONG_COL LONG);
Table created.
SQL> INSERT INTO LONG_TEST VALUES( 1,' THIS IS LONG TEST');
1 row created.
SQL> COMMIT;
Commit complete.
SQL> UPDATE LONG_TEST SET LONG_COL='APPENDING'||LONG_COL;
UPDATE LONG_TEST SET LONG_COL='APPENDING'||LONG_COL
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-00932: inconsistent datatypes: expected NUMBER got LONG
SQL> DESC LONG_TEST;
Name                                                  Null?    Type
ID                                                             NUMBER
LONG_COL                                                       LONG
SQL> UPDATE LONG_TEST SET LONG_COL='APPENDING';
1 row updated.
SQL>
Thanks

Answer 1

LONG data type is deprecated. Oracle recommends to use CLOB or BLOB data type accordingly. In your case CLOB would be the appropriate data type to use.
Here is an example using CLOB
SQL> create table a (no integer, val clob);
Table created.
SQL> insert into a (no, val) values (1, 'karthick');
1 row created.
SQL> select * from a;
        NO VAL
         1 karthick
SQL> update a set val = val || ' oracle' where no = 1;
1 row updated.
SQL> select * from a;
        NO VAL
         1 karthick oracle
SQL>
See how simple its to use CLOB.