ODP.NET Types Overview

ODP.NET types represent Oracle native 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 in a .NET application than .NET types. For example, an OracleDecimal holds up to 38 precisions while a .NET Decimal holds only up to 28 precisions.

Table 3-2 lists all the Oracle native types supported by ODP.NET and their corresponding ODP.NET type. The third column lists the .NET Framework datatype that corresponds to the Value property of each ODP.NET Type.

Table 3-2 Oracle Native Types Supported by ODP.NET

Oracle Native Type	ODP.NET Type	.NET Framework Datatypes
`BFILE`	`OracleBFile` class	`System.Byte[]`
`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[]`
`NCLOB`	`OracleClob` class	`System.String`
`NCHAR`	`OracleString` structure	`System.String`
`NUMBER`	`OracleDecimal` structure	`System.Decimal`
`NVARCHAR2`	`OracleString` structure	`System.String`
`RAW`	`OracleBinary` structure	`System.Byte[]`
`REF` `CURSOR`	`OracleRefCursor` class	Not Applicable
`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`