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Oracle to SQL Server data types

Every Oracle data type that SQL Server stores differently, what the converter writes for it, when, and the report line.

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Each row is a type from Oracle that SQL Server stores differently: what the SQL Server script gets, why, and the line the report writes about it. The rows come from the converter's own rules, so this page matches what it does.

Convert in the browser: Oracle to SQL Server opens the converter set up for this pair. The Oracle to SQL Server migration guide covers dumping, loading and the rules for keys, indexes and names.

A report line is a fix when the converter changed something and lists it, or a problem when a value or object is worth a look.

Numbers

In Oracle In SQL Server Why Report line
NUMBER, NUMBER(p,s), FLOAT(b) decimal(p,s), or bigint NUMBER keeps every digit; a NUMBER without precision whose values are all whole numbers of up to 18 digits is a 64-bit integer, and a negative scale holds as many digits before the point. None

Booleans and bits

In Oracle In SQL Server Why Report line
BOOLEAN (23ai) bit SQL Server has no boolean column, so TRUE and FALSE are 1 and 0. None

Text

In Oracle In SQL Server Why Report line
VARCHAR2(n BYTE|CHAR), NVARCHAR2(n), CHAR(n), NCHAR(n), CLOB, NCLOB, LONG nvarchar(n), nchar(n) and nvarchar(max) Lengths count characters, whether Oracle counted bytes or characters, so every value fits. None
VARCHAR2 and NVARCHAR2 past what the target's own types hold nvarchar(2n), or nvarchar(max) past 4000 nvarchar counts UTF-16 units and an emoji takes two, so the column gets room for every value. text_length_widened (fix)
NUL characters in text kept nvarchar can hold a NUL character, so the value is copied as it is. None
text that isn't valid in its encoding the bad bytes as the replacement character The script is UTF-8 and every value has to be valid text. invalid_utf8_replaced (problem)

Dates and times

In Oracle In SQL Server Why Report line
INTERVAL YEAR TO MONTH, INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND nvarchar(100) with Oracle's text, such as +01-06 SQL Server has no interval type; the text keeps every part. type_replaced (fix)
DATE, TIMESTAMP(p) datetime2(p) Oracle's DATE holds a time to the second, so it is a date and time. An export in an American or German session writes dates without their time or century (DD-MON-RR); export in an ISO session (SYYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS) to keep them. None
TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE, TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE datetimeoffset, with each value's offset The same type and values. None
dates before year 1 and time zones given as region names NULL A value that isn't a date becomes NULL and the report counts it. date_out_of_range (problem)

Binary

In Oracle In SQL Server Why Report line
BLOB, RAW(n), LONG RAW binary(n), varbinary(n) and varbinary(max) Bytes stay bytes. None

JSON, spatial and other types

In Oracle In SQL Server Why Report line
JSON (21c), and CLOB holding JSON nvarchar(max) The same JSON values; a SQL NULL the export wrote as 'null' stays NULL. None
ROWID, UROWID, XMLTYPE, SDO_GEOMETRY nvarchar(max), and xml for XMLTYPE Oracle's own types have no equivalent; their values keep their text, ROWID values included, though they mean nothing off Oracle. None
types IntoSQL doesn't know, and object types nvarchar(max) Text holds any value; change the type after loading. unknown_type (problem)
NaN and Infinity in BINARY_FLOAT and BINARY_DOUBLE NULL SQL Server's floating-point types have no NaN or infinity, so those values become NULL and the report counts them. invalid_value_null (problem)

Counters and identities

In Oracle In SQL Server Why Report line
identity columns, and a sequence a BEFORE INSERT trigger assigns IDENTITY, continuing after the highest id The copied ids load as they are, and the counter continues after the highest one. A column a trigger fills from a sequence (the way before 12c) is an identity too. None
identity columns the target can't count a plain integer SQL Server counts one IDENTITY column per table; any other keeps its values without a counter. counter_dropped (problem)

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