Varchar2 Data type modification to BLOB

Question

I am trying to change a VARCHAR2(20) data type into a BLOB. I have researched the web and found what I thought was the solution. That was to create a new Temp column that was a BLOB data type which I did, UPDATE the information from the column I what to modify into the Temp Column, then delete the original Varchar2 column and rename the BLOB column to the deleted columns original name.
However when I issue the UPDATE command of:
UPDATE "CUSTOMER2" SET "TEMP_NAME"="Cust_FirstName";
I am getting this error messages:
ORA-01465: invalid hex number
This is a copy of the table:
Does anyone have any ideas? All help would be very much appreciated!
-Robert

Answer 1

Robert wrote:
I am trying to change a VARCHAR2(20) data type into a BLOB. I have researched the web and found what I thought was the solution. That was to create a new Temp column that was a BLOB data type which I did, UPDATE the information from the column I what to modify into the Temp Column, then delete the original Varchar2 column and rename the BLOB column to the deleted columns original name.
However when I issue the UPDATE command of:
UPDATE "CUSTOMER2" SET "TEMP_NAME"="Cust_FirstName";
I am getting this error messages:
ORA-01465: invalid hex number
This is a copy of the table:
Does anyone have any ideas? All help would be very much appreciated!1. This is a database rather than specifically APEX question and hence better asked in the {forum:id=61} or {forum:id=75} forums.
2. What is "a copy of the table"?
3. Back up and explain why you're trying to do this. VARCHAR2 columns store character strings according to specific character set encodings. BLOBs store binary large objects—typically images, video, audio etc— in raw form. Although it is possible to store character data in a BLOB, this is rarely done for reasons relating to character set encoding: CLOBs are the recommended data type for large quantities of character/text information.
Edited by: fac586 on 04-Jul-2011 11:54
And please don't repost the same question multiple times: {thread:id=2247166}