>Thanks. What I fear is that if the first record found has a null value in a column and it is replaced with NVL(null,0), an one digit wide column is created. If later a larger integer if found it will not fit in the column. At least I used to find that problem inf FPDos (not with nulls, of course). Maybe it has long been fixed.
>
>Alex
For all sorts of expressions, I sometimes use:
select 00000 + VariableLengthNumber() ...
Note that I don't care if the column happens to have more than "x" digits wide; I just want to make sure it doesn't have less.
Difference in opinions hath cost many millions of lives: for instance, whether flesh be bread, or bread be flesh; whether whistling be a vice or a virtue; whether it be better to kiss a post, or throw it into the fire... (from Gulliver's Travels)