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 3-10 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 3-10 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`