Oracle: ORA-01401 Error Message

ORA-01401 Error Message

Learn the cause and how to resolve the ORA-01401 error message in Oracle.

Description

When you encounter an ORA-01401 error, the following error message will appear:

• ORA-01401: inserted value too large for column

Cause

You tried to insert a value into a column that exceeds the maximum width for the column.

Resolution

The option(s) to resolve this Oracle error are:

Option #1

Correct your SQL to truncate the value so that it fits within the field. You can always try the SUBSTR function to truncate the value.

Option #2

Modify your table definition to allow for a larger value in a field. This can be done with a ALTER TABLE command.

For example, if you had a table called suppliers defined as follows:

CREATE TABLE suppliers
( supplier_id number not null,
  supplier_name varchar2(10)
);

And you tried to execute the following INSERT statement:

INSERT INTO suppliers
( supplier_id, supplier_name )
VALUES
( 10023, 'Hewlett Packard' );

You would receive the following error message:

You have defined the supplier_name column as a varchar2 that can only handle up to 10 characters. Yet, you have attempted to insert the value 'Hewlett Packard' (which is 15 characters in length) into this field.