ResultSetMetaData getScale(n) Returns -127 on SQL CASE Numeric Expression after database upgrade to version 12.2 and higher (Doc ID 2948197.1)

Last updated on AUGUST 09, 2023

Applies to:

Symptoms

After migrating the database from version 12.1 to 19c a JDBC application no longer works due to the ResultSetMetaData getScale calls returning the wrong value.
The ResultSetMetaData getScale call is used to obtain information on a column data type from the ResultSet of a query, in particular, on the precision of a NUMBER type.

Consider the following fragment of code

The CASE expression returns a numeric value.  The datatype of this expression does not have a defined precision.

With the database version 12.1.0.2 and lower, the getScale() returns 0.

Starting with database version 12.2.0.1 and including versions 19c and 21c  the getScale() returns -127.

This is true irrespective of the JDBC driver version and applicable to JDBC/thin and JDBC/OCI.

The JDBC driver has no say on what the getScale method returns, as this value is provided by the database.

Changes

Cause

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