How can an Oracle NUMBER have a Scale larger than the Precision?

Question

The documentation states: \"Precision can range from 1 to 38. Scale can range from -84 to 127\".

How can the scale be larger than the precision? Shouldn\'t the Scal

Answer 1

Thanks to everyone for the answers. It looks like the precision is the number of significant digits.

 select cast(0.000123 as number(2,5)) from dual

results in:

.00012

Where

 select cast(0.00123 as number(2,5)) from dual

and

 select cast(0.000999 as number(2,5)) from dual

both result in:

ORA-01438: value larger than specified precision allowed for this column

the 2nd one due to rounding.