GETLENGTH Function

This function gets the length of the specified LOB. The length in bytes or characters is returned.

The length returned for a BFILE includes the EOF, if it exists. Any 0-byte or space filler in the LOB caused by previous ERASE or WRITE operations is also included in the length count. The length of an empty internal LOB is 0.

Syntax

DBMS_LOB.GETLENGTH (
   lob_loc    IN  BLOB) 
  RETURN INTEGER;
 
DBMS_LOB.GETLENGTH (
   lob_loc    IN  CLOB   CHARACTER SET ANY_CS) 
  RETURN INTEGER; 

DBMS_LOB.GETLENGTH (
   file_loc    IN  BFILE) 
  RETURN INTEGER;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(GETLENGTH, WNDS, WNPS, RNDS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 22-28 GETLENGTH Function Parameter

Parameter	Description
file_loc	The file locator for the LOB whose length is to be returned.

Returns

The length of the LOB in bytes or characters as an INTEGER. NULL is returned if the input LOB is NULL or if the input lob_loc is NULL. An error is returned in the following cases for BFILEs:

• lob_loc does not have the necessary directory and OS privileges

• lob_loc cannot be read because of an OS read error

Examples

CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE Example_11a IS
    lobd        BLOB;
    length      INTEGER;
BEGIN
    -- get the LOB locator
    SELECT b_lob INTO lobd FROM lob_table
        WHERE key_value = 42;
    length := dbms_lob.getlength(lobd);
    IF length IS NULL THEN
        dbms_output.put_line('LOB is null.');
    ELSE
        dbms_output.put_line('The length is '
            || length);
    END IF;
END;

CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE Example_11b IS
DECLARE
    len INTEGER;
    fil BFILE;
BEGIN
    SELECT f_lob INTO fil FROM lob_table WHERE key_value = 12; 
    len := dbms_lob.length(fil);
END;