This blog discusses the setup required to support extended datatypes in Oracle12c; For more information about extended datatypes, please refer to https://twelvec.com/2014/02/08/oracle12c_extended_datatypes/

In  nutshell , the following steps are required to enable extended datatypes. Most of the  steps are familiar except for step 3 and 4. In step 3 , we are modifying initialization parameter MAX_STRING_SIZE from STANDARD to EXTENDED. Once changed , this is a irreversible action.  Step 4  increases the sizes of VARCHAR2, NVARCHAR2 & RAW in the required views.

1. SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE
2. STARTUP UPGRADE;
3. ALTER SYSTEM SET max_string_size=extended scope=spfile;
4. @?/rdbms/admin/utl32k.sql
5. SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE;
6. STARTUP;

Example:

SQL> select name from v$database;

NAME

———

ORCL12C

SQL> shutdown immediate

Database closed.

Database dismounted.

ORACLE instance shut down.

SQL>

SQL>

SQL>

SQL> startup upgrade

ORACLE instance started.

Total System Global Area 2505338880 bytes

Fixed Size                  2291472 bytes

Variable Size             671090928 bytes

Database Buffers         1811939328 bytes

Redo Buffers               20017152 bytes

Database mounted.

Database opened.

SQL>

SQL>

SQL> ALTER SYSTEM SET max_string_size=extended;

System altered.

SQL> @?/rdbms/admin/utl32k.sql

Session altered.

DOC>#######################################################################

DOC>#######################################################################

DOC>   The following statement will cause an “ORA-01722: invalid number”

DOC>   error if the database has not been opened for UPGRADE.

DOC>

DOC>   Perform a “SHUTDOWN ABORT”  and

DOC>   restart using UPGRADE.

DOC>#######################################################################

DOC>#######################################################################

DOC>#

no rows selected

DOC>#######################################################################

DOC>#######################################################################

DOC>   The following statement will cause an “ORA-01722: invalid number”

DOC>   error if the database does not have compatible >= 12.0.0

DOC>

DOC>   Set compatible >= 12.0.0 and retry.

DOC>#######################################################################

DOC>#######################################################################

DOC>#

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

Session altered.

0 rows updated.

Commit complete.

System altered.

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

Commit complete.

System altered.

Session altered.

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

No errors.

Session altered.

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

Commit complete.

Package altered.

TIMESTAMP

——————————————————————————–

COMP_TIMESTAMP UTLRP_BGN  2014-01-28 14:51:31

DOC>   The following PL/SQL block invokes UTL_RECOMP to recompile invalid

DOC>   objects in the database. Recompilation time is proportional to the

DOC>   number of invalid objects in the database, so this command may take

DOC>   a long time to execute on a database with a large number of invalid

DOC>   objects.

DOC>

DOC>   Use the following queries to track recompilation progress:

DOC>

DOC>   1. Query returning the number of invalid objects remaining. This

DOC>      number should decrease with time.

DOC>         SELECT COUNT(*) FROM obj$ WHERE status IN (4, 5, 6);

DOC>

DOC>   2. Query returning the number of objects compiled so far. This number

DOC>      should increase with time.

DOC>         SELECT COUNT(*) FROM UTL_RECOMP_COMPILED;

DOC>

DOC>   This script automatically chooses serial or parallel recompilation

DOC>   based on the number of CPUs available (parameter cpu_count) multiplied

DOC>   by the number of threads per CPU (parameter parallel_threads_per_cpu).

DOC>   On RAC, this number is added across all RAC nodes.

DOC>

DOC>   UTL_RECOMP uses DBMS_SCHEDULER to create jobs for parallel

DOC>   recompilation. Jobs are created without instance affinity so that they

DOC>   can migrate across RAC nodes. Use the following queries to verify

DOC>   whether UTL_RECOMP jobs are being created and run correctly:

DOC>

DOC>   1. Query showing jobs created by UTL_RECOMP

DOC>         SELECT job_name FROM dba_scheduler_jobs

DOC>            WHERE job_name like ‘UTL_RECOMP_SLAVE_%’;

DOC>

DOC>   2. Query showing UTL_RECOMP jobs that are running

DOC>         SELECT job_name FROM dba_scheduler_running_jobs

DOC>            WHERE job_name like ‘UTL_RECOMP_SLAVE_%’;

DOC>#

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

TIMESTAMP

——————————————————————————–

COMP_TIMESTAMP UTLRP_END  2014-01-28 14:51:33

DOC> The following query reports the number of objects that have compiled

DOC> with errors.

DOC>

DOC> If the number is higher than expected, please examine the error

DOC> messages reported with each object (using SHOW ERRORS) to see if they

DOC> point to system misconfiguration or resource constraints that must be

DOC> fixed before attempting to recompile these objects.

DOC>#

OBJECTS WITH ERRORS

——————-

0

DOC> The following query reports the number of errors caught during

DOC> recompilation. If this number is non-zero, please query the error

DOC> messages in the table UTL_RECOMP_ERRORS to see if any of these errors

DOC> are due to misconfiguration or resource constraints that must be

DOC> fixed before objects can compile successfully.

DOC>#

ERRORS DURING RECOMPILATION

—————————

0

Function created.

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

Function dropped.

…Database user “SYS”, database schema “APEX_040200”, user# “98” 14:51:48

…Compiled 0 out of 2998 objects considered, 0 failed compilation 14:51:48

…263 packages

…255 package bodies

…453 tables

…11 functions

…16 procedures

…3 sequences

…458 triggers

…1322 indexes

…207 views

…0 libraries

…6 types

…0 type bodies

…0 operators

…0 index types

…Begin key object existence check 14:51:48

…Completed key object existence check 14:51:48

…Setting DBMS Registry 14:51:48

…Setting DBMS Registry Complete 14:51:48

…Exiting validate 14:51:48

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

SQL> SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE

Database closed.

Database dismounted.

ORACLE instance shut down.

SQL>

SQL>

SQL>

SQL> startup

ORACLE instance started.

Total System Global Area 2505338880 bytes

Fixed Size                  2291472 bytes

Variable Size             671090928 bytes

Database Buffers         1811939328 bytes

Redo Buffers               20017152 bytes

Database mounted.

Database opened.

SQL> show parameter max_string_size

NAME                                 TYPE        VALUE

———————————— ———– ——————————

max_string_size                      string      EXTENDED

Tagged: @?/rdbms/admin/utl32k.sql, extended datatypes, extended datatypes oracle 12c, MAX_STRING_SIZE, MAX_STRING_SIZE=EXTENDED, MAX_STRING_SIZE=STANDARD