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Probably about 300K rows. Using SQL and/or PL/SQL.

Would it be best to copy/convert into an interim format in a temporary table, work on it and then import it back in?

The updated data would need to remain as a 'long' datatype because we don't have the resources (or inclination) to fix the DB.


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Unfortunately, the LONG data type doesn't really work with SQL and PL/SQL... Any chance that all your data is less than 32k in length? That would make life much easier. Are you strictly limited to SQL and/or PL/SQL? Or is that just a preference? –  Justin Cave Oct 29 '09 at 23:06
I'm not 100% sure, but suspect the data would be less than 32K. SQL and/or PL/SQL are a preference, but I'm open to any ideas. Cheers. –  Umber Ferrule Oct 30 '09 at 10:26
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Here 4 ways are explained how to convert the long column to a clob. Online redefinition is possible.


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Unfortunately this isn't an option. We don't have the source to alter the app that uses the DB. –  Umber Ferrule Feb 26 '10 at 21:44
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