Oracle SQL to change column type from number to varchar2 while it contains data

Question

I have a table (that contains data) in Oracle 11g and I need to use Oracle SQLPlus to do the following:

Target: change the type of column TEST1 in table

Answer 1

Look at Oracle's package DBMS_REDEFINE. With some luck you can do it online without downtime - if needed. Otherwise you can:

• Add new VARCHAR2 column
• Use update to copy NUMBER into VARCHAR2
• Drop NUMBER column
• Rename VARCHAR2 column