DUMP function v17

The DUMP function returns a VARCHAR2 value that contains the datatype code, length in bytes, and internal representation of the expression.

DUMP(expr[, <return_fmt> [, <start_position> [, <length> ] ] ])

Where return_fmt specifies the format of the any of these return values:

  • 8 returns the result in octal notation.
  • 10 returns the result in decimal notation.
  • 16 returns the result in hexadecimal notation.
  • 17 returns each byte printed as a character only if it can be interpreted as a printable character in the character set of the compiler.

The arguments start_position and length combine to determine the portion of the internal representation to return. The default is to return the entire internal representation in decimal notation.

If expr is null, then the function returns NULL.

Examples

SELECT dump('abc', 10);
Output
dump          
------------------------
 Typ=25 Len=3: 97,98,99
(1 row)
SELECT dump('huvudvärke', 1017) FROM dual;
Output
dump                           
----------------------------------------------------------
 Typ=25 Len=11 CharacterSet=UTF8: h,u,v,u,d,v,c3,a4,r,k,e
(1 row)
SELECT dump ('edbpostgres', 8,2,3) FROM dual;
Output
dump            
----------------------------
 Typ=25 Len=11: 144,142,160
(1 row)
SELECT dump(to_timestamp('11-06-2021 12:45:24','MM-DD-YYYY HH:MI:SS'), 1008) FROM dual;
Output
dump                            
-----------------------------------------------------------
 Typ=1184 Len=8 CharacterSet=UTF8: 0,355,12,266,30,163,2,0
(1 row)
SELECT dump(100/4, 10) FROM dual;
Output
dump            
----------------------------
 Typ=1700 Len=4: 0,128,25,0
(1 row)