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RAW Data Type

The RAW data type stores data that is not to be interpreted (that is, not explicitly converted when moving data between different systems) by Oracle Database. The RAW data type is intended for binary data or byte strings.

The syntax for specifying RAW data is as follows:

RAW (size)

where you must specify a size up to the maximum of 2000 bytes

RAW is a variable-length data type, however Oracle Net (which connects user sessions to the instance) and Oracle Database utilities do not perform character conversion when transmitting RAW data.

When Oracle automatically converts RAW data to and from text data, the binary data is represented in hexadecimal form, with one hexadecimal character representing every four bits of RAW data. For example, one byte of RAW data with bits 11001011 is displayed and entered as CB.


See also:

HEXTORAW and RAWTOHEX functions