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# Creating Mappings to Oracle LOB Database Objects

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In an Oracle Database, large amounts of binary or character data is stored as a `BLOB` (binary large object) or `CLOB` (character large object), respectively. Depending on the size of the `LOB` value and your Oracle Database database version, the value may be stored either inside or outside of the table.

- With Oracle8i version 8.1.6 and earlier, `LOB` values less than 4K are stored inline; values more than 4K are stored outside the table.

- With Oracle8i version 8.1.7 and later, `LOB` values less than 5.9K are stored inline; values more than 5.9K are stored outside the table.

A client application (such as Oracle TopLink) must use a LOB locator to write a LOB value, if the value is stored outside of the database. The Oracle JDBC OCI driver and server driver handle these LOB (large object) values differently than the Oracle JDBC thin driver.