The Oracle PL/SQL TIMESTAMP data type is used to store date and time data.
Syntax
The syntax for declaring a variable with the PL/SQL timestamp data type is as follows:
variable_name TIMESTAMP;
For example, you could declare a variable named start_date like this:
declare start_date TIMESTAMP:=sysdate; begin DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('start_date = '||start_date); end;
You can also use the timestamp data type in a table column. The syntax for doing this is as follows:
column_name TIMESTAMP;
For example, you could create a table with a column named start_date like this:
CREATE TABLE test_table ( id NUMBER, comments VARCHAR2(4000), start_date TIMESTAMP );
The PL/SQL timestamp data type is useful for storing date and time data. It has a number of advantages over other data types, such as the ability to store fractional seconds.