4.5.3 Values Bind as Strings

Bind variables in your SQL and PL/SQL are always treated as strings, except when using database 26ai and explicitly setting a page item's data type to BOOLEAN.

Even when you configure a page item like P5_START_DATE as a Date Picker or define a P5_MAX_QUANTITY item as a Number Field, APEX binds your references to :P5_START_DATE and :P5_MAX_QUANTITY as VARCHAR2 string values. There are two exceptions to this rule. You can optionally configure the data type to be:

• CLOB for Hidden, Text Area, and Rich Text Editor page items
• BOOLEAN for Switch and Checkbox page items.

• Working with Data Values as Numbers
  If a page item contains a numeric value, using its value as a VARCHAR2-typed bind variable is fine when the database performs automatic type conversion.
• Working with Data Values as Dates
  If a page item contains a date value, then using its value as a VARCHAR2-typed bind variable can raise an error if the page item uses a different format mask than the application default.
• Working with Delimited Values
  When a page item contains multiple value separated by a delimiter like colon (:) or comma (,) you can use its multiple values in SQL or PL/SQL.