ODP.NET Types Overview

ODP.NET types represent Oracle native data types and PL/SQL data types as a structure or as a class. ODP.NET type structures follow value semantics, while ODP.NET type classes follow reference semantics. ODP.NET types provide safer and more efficient ways of obtaining Oracle native data and PL/SQL data types in a .NET application than .NET types. For example, an OracleDecimal structure holds up to 38 digits of precision, while a .NET Decimal only holds up to 28.

Table 3-11 lists data types supported by ODP.NET and their corresponding ODP.NET types: data types in the first column refer to both Oracle native data types and PL/SQL data types of that name. Those data types that exist only in PL/SQL are indicated by (PL/SQL only) after the data type name. The entries for the PL/SQL data types also represent the subtypes of the data types, if any. The third column lists the .NET Framework data type that corresponds to the Value property of each ODP.NET type.

Table 3-11 Value Property Type of ODP.NET Type

Oracle Native Data Type or PL/SQL Data Type ODP.NET Type .NET Framework Data Types

BFILE

OracleBFile class

System.Byte[]

BINARY_DOUBLE

OracleDecimal structure

System.Decimal

BINARY_FLOAT

OracleDecimal structure

System.Decimal

BINARY_INTEGER (PL/SQL only)

OracleDecimal structure

System.Decimal

BLOB

OracleBlob class

System.Byte[]

CHAR

OracleString structure

System.String

CLOB

OracleClob class

System.String

DATE

OracleDate structure

System.DateTime

INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND

OracleIntervalDS structure

System.TimeSpan

INTERVAL YEAR TO MONTH

OracleIntervalYM structure

System.Int64

LONG

OracleString structure

System.String

LONG RAW

OracleBinary structure

System.Byte[]

NCHAR

OracleString structure

System.String

NCLOB

OracleClob class

System.String

NUMBER

OracleDecimal structure

System.Decimal

NVARCHAR2

OracleString structure

System.String

PLS_INTEGER (PL/SQL only)

OracleDecimal Structure

System.Decimal

RAW

OracleBinary structure

System.Byte[]

REF

OracleRef class

System.String

REF CURSOR (PL/SQL only)

OracleRefCursor class

Not Applicable

ROWID

OracleString structure

System.String

TIMESTAMP

OracleTimeStamp structure

System.DateTime

TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE

OracleTimeStampLTZ structure

System.DateTime

TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE

OracleTimeStampTZ structure

System.DateTime

UROWID

OracleString structure

System.String

VARCHAR2

OracleString structure

System.String

XMLType

OracleXmlType class

System.String