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The official Oracle database documentation says that the NVL2 function doesn't allow values of type LONG in its second and third parameters though it doesn't explain why.

Why do we have this restriction? Is there any specific reason for this restriction?

n7rider
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  • I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because this is not a question about programming, it is a question of the rationale behind Oracle's product design. – Matthew McPeak Nov 16 '17 at 18:29

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Because LONG columns are long, loooong (pun intended :)) deprecated and shouldn't be used anymore: Oracle 9.0.1 - Deprecated and Desupported Features

gvenzl
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  • Thanks, that explains it. Read about the Long data type and seems it's disallowed for a lot of operations as per https://docs.oracle.com/cd/B28359_01/server.111/b28318/datatype.htm#CNCPT1831 – n7rider Nov 16 '17 at 19:02
  • Yup, it is, better not to use it if you don't have to! – gvenzl Nov 20 '17 at 06:34