Question

what is the data type of string? and what is it used for??pls help

Answer 1

Every constant, variable, and parameter has adata type (also called a type) that determines its storage format, constraints, valid range of values, and operations that can be performed on it. PL/SQL provides many predefined data types and subtypes, and lets you define your own PL/SQL subtypes.

A subtype is a subset of another data type, which is called its base type. A subtype has the same valid operations as its base type, but only a subset of its valid values. Subtypes can increase reliability, provide compatibility with ANSI/ISO types, and improve readability by indicating the intended use of constants and variables.

This chapter explains the basic, frequently used predefined PL/SQL data types and subtypes, how to define and use your own PL/SQL subtypes, and PL/SQL data type conversion. Later chapters explain specialized predefined data types.

Table 3-1 lists the categories of predefined PL/SQL data types, describes the data they store, and tells where to find information about the specialized data types.