How to compute a column value in oracle 10g?

Question

create table ord_tbl
(
ord_id number(10) primary key,
ord_name varchar2(20),
quantity number(20),
cost_per_item number(30),
total_cost number(30)--This colm shud be          


        

Answer 1

10g doesn't have this feature. Instead, use a view:

create table ord_tbl
(
ord_id number(10) primary key,
ord_name varchar2(20),
quantity number(20),
cost_per_item number(30),
ord_date date
);

create view vw_ord_tbl as
    select ord_id, ord_name, quantity, cost_perId, (quantity*cost_per_item) as total_cost, ord_date
    from ord_tbl;

The alternative would be to have the column in the table to maintain the value using a trigger -- for both updates and inserts. I would suggest using the view, because maintaining the triggers adds a lot of maintenance overhead.

EDIT (by Jason):

In 11g you can create a virtual column in the table definition.

create table ord_tbl (
    ord_id number(10) primary key,
    ord_name varchar2(20),
    quantity number(20),
    cost_per_item number(30),
    total_cost as (quantity*cost_per_item),
    ord_date date
)