Oracle provides alter table syntax to modify data columns in-place in this form: alter table table_name modify column_name datatype; If you are brave you can use a single alter table syntax to modify multiple columns:
PRINCETON, N. J., Feb. 18--Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, the nuclear physicist, died here tonight at the age of 62. A spokesman for the family said Dr. Oppenheimer died at 8 o'clock in his home on the grounds of the Institute for Advanced Study. He had been ailing since early last year with cancer of the throat.
Dr. Roger Poppen, a psychologist at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and the author of ''Joseph Wolpe'' (Sage, 1995), a biography of the doctor, said: ''He was a major force in steering psychotherapy in the direction of empirical science.