Configuring Siebel eBusiness Applications > Configuring Tables and Columns >

Creating Columns of Type LONG

You can create an extension column of type LONG, but you are limited to one column of this type per table.

When configuring LONG columns, consider the following:

• You can only add LONG columns to 1:1 Extension Tables that have a valid base table identified in the Base Table property of the table object definition.
• You cannot add LONG columns to _XM tables because they are of type Data (Public).
• You cannot add LONG columns to tables of type Data (Public), such as S_EVT_ACT. Siebel Systems reserves the right to implement LONG columns in these tables.
• You can use LONG columns to store a maximum of 16 KB or 16383 characters.
• Querying a LONG column triggers additional I/O in your DBMS that is not necessary with other column datatypes. This extra I/O slightly increases the time required to retrieve each row of data from the database, which can add up to a noticeable reduction in performance when retrieving many rows of data from the database.

To create a LONG extension column

1. Find an appropriate 1:1 extension table that corresponds to the base table that needs the LONG column available.

   An example of a 1:1 extension table for S_EVT_ACT, for instance, is S_EVT_ACT_X.

2. Create a column in the table and set the Physical Type to 'Long' and Length set to '0'.

   For instructions on adding columns to tables, see Adding Extension Columns to Base Tables.

   The logical database schema is changed based on the information you entered, but you still need to physically apply the changes to your local database as described in Select Edit > New Record to specify each column to add to the index..