check if “it's a number” function in Oracle

Question

I\'m trying to check if a value from a column in an oracle (10g) query is a number in order to compare it. Something like:

select case when ( is_number(myTab         


        

Answer 1

well, you could create the is_number function to call so your code works.

create or replace function is_number(param varchar2) return boolean
 as
   ret number;
 begin
    ret := to_number(param);
    return true;
 exception
    when others then return false;
 end;

EDIT: Please defer to Justin's answer. Forgot that little detail for a pure SQL call....