E
New Internal Datatypes and SQL Functions

This appendix lists the new internal datatypes and SQL functions added in version 8. This appendix covers the following topics:

• Internal Datatypes Added in the New Release

• SQL Functions Added in the New Release

  See Also: Oracle8i SQL Reference for a complete list and descriptions of Oracle internal datatypes and SQL functions.

Internal Datatypes Added in the New Release

The internal datatypes listed in this section are new in version 8. Each may be used as a function name in a SELECT list, but only if it is qualified with a schema (schema.function) as in the following example:

select scott.true() ...

In version 8, if a schema qualification is missing, then these words generate an error, while, in version 7, their unqualified use did not generate an error.

Internal Datatypes Added in Release 8.0

The following internal datatypes were added in release 8.0:

• NCHAR

• NVARCHAR2

• CLOB

• NCLOB

• BLOB

• BFILE

Internal Datatype Added in Release 8.1

The following internal datatype was added in release 8.1:

• UROWID (universal rowid)

SQL Functions Added in the New Release

The SQL functions listed in this section are new in version 8.

SQL Functions Added in Release 8.0

The following SQL functions were added in release 8.0:

Single-Row Functions

The following single-row functions were added in release 8.0:

• EMPTY_[B | C]LOB

• BFILENAME

• NLS_CHARSET_DECL_LEN

• NLS_CHARSET_ID

• NLS_CHARSET_NAME

Object Reference Functions

The following object reference functions were added in release 8.0:

• DEFEF

• MAKE_REF

• REF

• REFTOHEX

• VALUE

SQL Functions Added in Release 8.1

The following functions were added in release 8.1:

Character Functions

The following character function was added in release 8.1:

• TRIM

Conversion Functions

The following conversion function was added in release 8.1:

• TO_LOB

Aggregate Functions

The following aggregate function was added in release 8.1:

• GROUPING

Single-Row Functions

The following single-row functions were added in release 8.1:

• SYS_CONTEXT

• SYS_GUID

  Note: Function names beginning with SYS are reserved by Oracle. You should not begin any function names with SYS; if you do, then you may encounter compatibility problems.