Purpose SCN_TO_TIMESTAMP takes as an argument a number that evaluates to a system change number (SCN), and returns the approximate timestamp associated with that SCN. The returned value is of TIMESTAMP datatype. This function is useful any time you want to know the timestamp associated with an SCN. For example, it can be used in conjunction with the ORA_ROWSCN pseudocolumn to associate a timestamp with the most recent change to a row. See Also: ORA_ROWSCN Pseudocolumn and TIMESTAMP_TO_SCN The following example uses the ORA_ROWSCN pseudocolumn to determine the system change number of the last update to a row and uses SCN_TO_TIMESTAMP to convert that SCN to a timestamp: SELECT SCN_TO_TIMESTAMP(ORA_ROWSCN) FROM employees You could use such a query to convert a system change number to a timestamp for use in an Oracle Flashback Query: SELECT salary FROM employees WHERE employee_id = 188; UPDATE employees SET salary = salary*10 WHERE employee_id = 188; SELECT salary FROM employees WHERE employee_id = 188; SELECT SCN_TO_TIMESTAMP(ORA_ROWSCN) FROM employees FLASHBACK TABLE employees TO TIMESTAMP SELECT salary FROM employees WHERE employee_id = 188; |