How to Sort Varchar Values In Oracle?

Best Sorting Algorithms for Oracle Databases to Buy in December 2025

1

ORACLE DATABASE PERFORMANCE TUNING: A SIMPLE AND COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO DIAGNOSE, OPTIMIZE, AND DELIVER

BUY & SAVE

$9.99

2

OCE Oracle Database SQL Certified Expert Exam Guide (Exam 1Z0-047) (Oracle Press)

• SAME-DAY DISPATCH IF ORDERED BEFORE 12 NOON!
• GUARANTEED MINT CONDITION FOR UTMOST QUALITY.
• HASSLE-FREE RETURNS FOR CUSTOMER SATISFACTION.

BUY & SAVE

$53.98 $68.00

Save 21%

3

Oracle Database 12c The Complete Reference (Oracle Press)

• AFFORDABLE PRICES FOR QUALITY READS AT A FRACTION OF RETAIL COST.
• ECO-FRIENDLY CHOICE: PROMOTE SUSTAINABILITY BY BUYING USED BOOKS.
• UNIQUE FINDS: DISCOVER RARE TITLES NOT AVAILABLE IN STORES.

BUY & SAVE

$106.44

4

Oracle Database 11g DBA Handbook (Oracle Press)

BUY & SAVE

$25.59 $80.00

Save 68%

5

Oracle Database 12c DBA Handbook (Oracle Press)

BUY & SAVE

$34.00 $72.00

Save 53%

6

Expert Oracle Application Express

• AFFORDABLE PRICES FOR BUDGET-FRIENDLY READERS SEEKING QUALITY.
• ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY CHOICE-REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE!
• DISCOVER UNIQUE TITLES AND RARE FINDS AT GREAT VALUE.

BUY & SAVE

$45.83 $54.99

Save 17%

+

ONE MORE?

In Oracle, you can sort varchar values using the ORDER BY clause in a SELECT statement. By default, varchar values are sorted in ascending order. If you want to sort them in descending order, you can use the DESC keyword after the column name in the ORDER BY clause. Keep in mind that varchar values are sorted alphabetically, so numbers and special characters may affect the sorting order. To ensure that the sorting is done correctly, you can use the NLSSORT function to specify the sorting rules based on a specific language or linguistic sort rules.

What is the best practice for sorting varchar values in Oracle?

The best practice for sorting VARCHAR values in Oracle is to use the ORDER BY clause in your SQL query. By default, Oracle sorts VARCHAR values in ascending order. If you want to sort in descending order, you can specify DESC after the column name in the ORDER BY clause. Additionally, you can use the COLLATE clause to specify a specific collation to use for sorting VARCHAR values. This can be useful if you need to perform case-insensitive sorting or if you are working with VARCHAR values in different languages with different sorting rules.

How to sort varchar values in Oracle in descending order?

You can use the following query to sort varchar values in descending order in Oracle:

SELECT column_name FROM table_name ORDER BY column_name DESC;

Replace column_name with the name of the varchar column you want to sort, and table_name with the name of the table where the column is located.

This query will return the values in the specified varchar column sorted in descending order.

How to retrieve the sorted varchar values in Oracle?

You can retrieve the sorted VARCHAR values in Oracle using the ORDER BY clause in a SELECT statement. Here's an example:

SELECT your_varchar_column FROM your_table ORDER BY your_varchar_column;

This query will retrieve the values from the specified VARCHAR column in your_table and order them in ascending order by default. If you want to retrieve them in descending order, you can add the DESC keyword after the column name in the ORDER BY clause:

SELECT your_varchar_column FROM your_table ORDER BY your_varchar_column DESC;

You can also use the ASC keyword for explicitly specifying ascending order, though it is not necessary as it is the default sorting order:

SELECT your_varchar_column FROM your_table ORDER BY your_varchar_column ASC;

Replace "your_varchar_column" and "your_table" with the actual column and table names in your database.