Oracle Vector Data Type
Version 26ai

General Information
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The best Oracle News for FY2026

Oracle Database 26ai will be available on generic Linux platforms in January and soon on AIX and Windows
Purpose This page is a collection of built-in Oracle Database functions and functionality related to the new Artificial Intelligence focused Vector Data Type.

It should be emphasized that Oracle has supported Vector data types since version 8i so, in one sense, no thing new here. But, in a very real sense, VECTOR as a stand-alone data type builds significant new functionality supporting new use cases.

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Note
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Dependencies
STANDARD    
 
VECTOR Data Type (new 23ai)
Defined in the Built-in PL/SQL Package STANDARD TYPE VECTOR IS VECTOR_BASE;
 
Vector Data Type Formats VECTOR(<number_of_dimensions>, [* | format], [storage_format]
 
VECTOR Objects (new 23ai)
Create Regular Heap Table CREATE TABLE reg_tab (
employee_id INTEGER,
first_name  VARCHAR2(30),
last_name   VARCHAR2(30),
date_hired  DATE,
resume      BLOB,
id_photo    BLOB)
TABLESPACE users;

desc vec_reg_tab

Name          Type
------------- -------------------
EMPLOYEE_ID   NUMBER(38)
FIRST_NAME    VARCHAR2(30)
LAST_NAME     VARCHAR2(30)
DATE_HIRED    DATE
RESUME        BLOB
ID_PHOTO      BLOB
Create Vector Heap Table CREATE TABLE vec_col_tab1(
employee_id INTEGER,
first_name  VARCHAR2(30),
last_name   VARCHAR2(30),
date_hired  DATE,
resume      BLOB,
id_photo    BLOB,
vector_data VECTOR)
TABLESPACE users;

desc vec_col_tab1

Name          Type
------------- -------------------
EMPLOYEE_ID   NUMBER(38)
FIRST_NAME    VARCHAR2(30)
LAST_NAME     VARCHAR2(30)
DATE_HIRED    DATE
RESUME        BLOB
ID_PHOTO      BLOB
VECTOR_DATA   VECTOR(*, *, DENSE)

CREATE TABLE vec_col_tab2(
employee_id INTEGER,
first_name  VARCHAR2(30),
last_name   VARCHAR2(30),
date_hired  DATE,
resume      BLOB,
id_photo    BLOB,
vector_data VECTOR(*,*))
TABLESPACE users;

desc vec_col_tab2

Name          Type
------------- -------------------
EMPLOYEE_ID   NUMBER(38)
FIRST_NAME    VARCHAR2(30)
LAST_NAME     VARCHAR2(30)
DATE_HIRED    DATE
RESUME        BLOB
ID_PHOTO      BLOB
VECTOR_DATA   VECTOR(*, *, DENSE)
Convert Regular Heap Table to a Vector Heap Table ALTER TABLE reg_tab ADD vec_col1 VECTOR(100, INT8);

desc reg_tab

Name          Type
------------- -------------------
EMPLOYEE_ID   NUMBER(38)
FIRST_NAME    VARCHAR2(30)
LAST_NAME     VARCHAR2(30)
DATE_HIRED    DATE
RESUME        BLOB
ID_PHOTO      BLOB
VEC_COL1      VECTOR(100, INT8, DENSE)

ALTER TABLE reg_tab ADD (vec_col2 VECTOR(*, FLOAT(32));

Name          Type
------------- -------------------
EMPLOYEE_ID   NUMBER(38)
FIRST_NAME    VARCHAR2(30)
LAST_NAME     VARCHAR2(30)
DATE_HIRED    DATE
RESUME        BLOB
ID_PHOTO      BLOB
VEC_COL1      VECTOR(100, INT8, DENSE)
VEC_COL2      VECTOR(*, FLOAT32, DENSE)

ALTER TABLE reg_tab ADD (vec_col3 VECTOR(1000, *, SPARSE);

Name          Type
------------- -------------------
EMPLOYEE_ID   NUMBER(38)
FIRST_NAME    VARCHAR2(30)
LAST_NAME     VARCHAR2(30)
DATE_HIRED    DATE
RESUME        BLOB
ID_PHOTO      BLOB
VEC_COL1      VECTOR(100, INT8, DENSE)
VEC_COL2      VECTOR(*, FLOAT32, DENSE)
VEC_COL3      VECTOR(1000, *, SPARSE);
Creating Binary Table with Vector Columns CREATE TABLE vecbin (
emp_id INTEGER,
vecdata VECTOR(10, BINARY, DENSE));
*
ERROR at line 3:
ORA-51813: Vector of BINARY format should have a dimension count that is a multiple of 8.

-- note, above, the number of dimensions is 10
-- note, below, the number of dimensions is 16 which is a multiple of 8

CREATE TABLE vecbin (
emp_id INTEGER,
vecdata VECTOR(16, BINARY, DENSE));

Table created.

INSERT INTO vecbin (emp_id, vecdata) VALUES (3, TO_VECTOR('[0, 1]', 16, BINARY, DENSE));

1 row created.

 
Create View CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW vec_view AS
SELECT * FROM vec_col_tab
ORDER BY 1;

SELECT dbms_metadata.get_ddl('VIEW', 'VEC_VIEW', USER);

DBMS_METADATA.GET_DDL(;VIEW', 'VEC_VIEW', USER)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------CREATE OR REPLACE FORCE NON-EDITIONABLE VIEW "C##UWCLASS", "VEC_VIEW" (
"EMPLOYEE_ID", "FIRST_NAME", "LAST_NAME", "DATE_HIRED", "RESUME", "ID_PHOTO",
"VEC_COL1", "VEC_COL2", "VEC_COL3") AS
SELECT "EMPLOYEE_ID", "FIRST_NAME", "LAST_NAME", "DATE_HIRED", "RESUME", "ID_PHOTO",
"VEC_COL1", "VEC_COL2", "VEC_COL3" FROM reg_tab;
Alter Vector Type Column Definition ALTER TABLE reg_tab MODIFY (vec_col3 VECTOR(1001, FLOAT64, DENSE);
*
ORA-51859: Unsupported VECTOR column modification.
Partitioned Tables CREATE OR TABLE vector_part(
employee_id INTEGER,
first_name  VARCHAR2(30),
last_name   VARCHAR2(30),
date_hired  DATE,
resume      BLOB,
id_photo    BLOB,
vector_data VECTOR)
PARTITION BY HASH
PARTITIONS 3
STORE IN (users);

CREATE TABLE vector_part(
*
ERROR AT LINE 1:
ORA-51854: A VECTOR column cannot serve as a partitioning column.
Index Organized Tables CREATE TABLEvector_iot(
employee_id INTEGER,
first_name VARCHAR2(30),
last_name VARCHAR2(30),
date_hired DATE,
resume BLOB,
id_photo BLOB,
vector_data VECTOR
CONSTRAINT vector_data
PRIMARY KEY (vector_data))
ORGANIZATION INDEX;

CREATE TABLE vector_part(
*
ERROR AT LINE 1:
ORA-51856: Index Organized tables cannot contain VECTOR columns
 
Vector Table DML (new 23ai)
Insert Statements: Float Vector CREATE TABLE vectab (
emp_id  INTEGER,
vecdata VECTOR);



INSERT INTO vectab (emp_id, vecdata)
VALUES (1, TO_VECTOR('[34.6, 77.8, -89.34]', 3, FLOAT32, DENSE));

1 row created.

SELECT * FROM tab;

 EMP_ID  VECDATA
-------  ---------------------------------------------------
      1  [3.45999985E+001,7.78000031E+001,-8.93399963E+001]


INSERT INTO vectab
SELECT (emp_id+1), vecdata
FROM vtab
WHERE emp_id = 1;

SELECT * FROM vectab;

 EMP_ID  VECDATA
-------  ---------------------------------------------------
      1  [3.45999985E+001,7.78000031E+001,-8.93399963E+001]
      2  [3.45999985E+001,7.78000031E+001,-8.93399963E+001]
Insert Statement: Binary Vector CREATE TABLE vecbin (
emp_id INTEGER,
vecdata VECTOR(10, BINARY, DENSE));
                   *
ORA-51813: Vector of BINARY format should have a dimension that is a multiple of 8.

 CREATE TABLE vecbin (
emp_id INTEGER,
vecdata VECTOR(64, BINARY, DENSE));

Table created.

DROP TABLE vecbin PURGE;

Table dropped.

CREATE TABLE vecbin (
emp_id INTEGER,
vecdata VECTOR(8, BINARY, DENSE));

Table created.

INSERT INTO vecbin (emp_id, vecdata) VALUES (3, TO_VECTOR('[1]', 8, BINARY, DENSE));

1 row created.

INSERT INTO vecbin (emp_id, vecdata) VALUES (3, TO_VECTOR('[128]', 8, BINARY, DENSE));

1 row created.

INSERT INTO vecbin (emp_id, vecdata) VALUES (3, TO_VECTOR('[255]', 8, BINARY, DENSE));

1 row created.

INSERT INTO vecbin (emp_id, vecdata) VALUES (3, TO_VECTOR('[256]', 8, BINARY, DENSE));
ORA-51806: Vector column is not properly formatted (dimension value 0 is outside the allowed precision range).

 CREATE TABLE ipv4 (
port CHAR(4),
ipv4addr VECTOR(32, BINARY, DENSE));

Table created.

INSERT INTO ipv4 (port, ipv4addr) VALUES ('1521', TO_VECTOR('[192,168,10,2]',32,BINARY,DENSE));

1 row created.

col ipvaddr format a20

SELECT * FROM ipv4;

PORT  IPV4ADDR
---- --------------------
1521 [192,168,10,2]


CREATE TABLE distance (
emp_id INTEGER,
vecdata VECTOR(16, BINARY, DENSE));

Table created.

INSERT INTO distance (emp_id, vecdata) VALUES (1, VECTOR('[0,1]',16,BINARY,DENSE));
INSERT INTO distance (emp_id, vecdata) VALUES (2, VECTOR('[1,241]',16,BINARY,DENSE));


SELECT * FROM distance;

EMP_ID VECDATA
------ ------------
     1 [0,1]
     2 [1,241]


WITH q AS (SELECT vecdata AS R1 FROM distance WHERE emp_id = 1),
     r AS (SELECT vecdata AS R2 FROM distance WHERE emp_id = 2)
SELECT HAMMING_DISTANCE(q.r1, r.r2) AS HDIST
FROM q,r;

 HDIST
------
     5

WITH q AS (SELECT vecdata AS R1 FROM vecbin WHERE emp_id = 1),
     r AS (SELECT vecdata AS R2 FROM vecbin WHERE emp_id = 2)
SELECT JACCARD_DISTANCE(q.r1, r.r2) AS JDIST
FROM q,r;

 JDIST
------
     1
Update Statements UPDATE vectab
SET vecdata = TO_VECTOR('[10, 20.2, -30.03]', 3, FLOAT32, DENSE)
WHERE emp_id = 1;

1 row updated.

SELECT * FROM vectab;

 EMP_ID  VECDATA
-------  ---------------------------------------------------
      1  [1.0E+001,2.02000008E+001,-3.00300007E+001]
      2  [3.45999985E+001,7.78000031E+001,-8.93399963E+001]
Delete Statements In Development
 
PL/SQL Vector Objects (new 23ai)
PL/SQL Object Vector Variables and Parameters DECLARE
 v VECTOR(100, FLOAT64, DENSE);
BEGIN
  NULL;
END;
/

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION func_vect(inVect IN VECTOR) RETURN VARCHAR2 AUTHID DEFINER IS
 v VECTOR(100, FLOAT64, DENSE);
BEGIN
  RETURN 'V';
END;
/

Function created.
 
Vector Operators (new 23ai)
<=> (new 23ai)
Cosine distance '<=>'(left vector, right vector) RETURN BINARY_DOUBLE;
TBD
 
<-> (new 23ai)
Euclidean Operator '<->'(left vector, right vector) RETURN BINARY_DOUBLE;
TBD
 
<#> (new 23ai)
Negative Inner Product '<#>'(left vector, right vector) RETURN BINARY_DOUBLE;
TBD
 
<+> (new 23ai)
Vector Binary Addition '+'(left vector, right vector) RETURN VECTOR;
TBD
 
<+> (new 23ai)
Vector Binary Subtraction '-'(left vector, right vector) RETURN VECTOR;
TBD
 
<+> (new 23ai)
Vector Binary Multiplication '*'(left vector, right vector) RETURN VECTOR;
TBD
 
<+> (new 23ai)
Vector Binary Division '/'(left vector, right vector) RETURN VECTOR;
TBD
 
COSINE_DISTANCE (new 23ai)
A shorthand version of the VECTOR_DISTANCE function that calculates the cosine distance between two vectors COSINE_DISTANCE(left IN VECTOR, right IN VECTOR) RETURN BINARY_DOUBLE;
TBD
 
FROM_VECTOR (new 23ai)
Takes a vector as input and returns a string of type VARCHAR2 or CLOB as output FROM_VECTOR(left IN VECTOR) RETURN VARCHAR2;
SELECT FROM_VECTOR(vecdata) FROM vectab;

FROM_VECTOR(VECDATA)
---------------------------------------------------
[1.0E+001,2.02000008E+001,-3.00300007E+001]
[3.45999985E+001,7.78000031E+001,-8.93399963E+001]
 
HAMMING_DISTANCE (new 23ai)
A shorthand version of the VECTOR_DISTANCE function that calculates the hamming distance between two vectors HAMMING_DISTANCE(
left  IN vector
right IN vector)
RETURN BINARY_DOUBLE;
TBD
 
INNER_PRODUCT (new 23ai)
Calculates the inner product of two vectors. It takes two vectors as input and returns the inner product as a BINARY_DOUBLE INNER_PRODUCT(
left  IN VECTOR,
right IN VECTOR)
RETURN BINARY_DOUBLE;
TBD
 
IS NULL (new 23ai)
Returns TRUE is a vector is NULL, else FALSE 'IS NULL' (n IN VECTOR) RETURN BOOLEAN;
TBD
 
IS NOT NULL (new 23ai)
Returns TRUE if a vector is NOT NULL, else FALSE 'IS NOT NULL' (n IN VECTOR) RETURN BOOLEAN;
TBD
 
JACCARD_DISTANCE (new 23ai)
A shorthand version of the VECTOR_DISTANCE function that calculates the hamming distance between two vectors JACCARD_DISTANCE(
left  IN vector
right IN vector)
RETURN BINARY_DOUBLE;
TBD
 
L1_DISTANCE (new 23ai)
A shorthand version of the VECTOR_DISTANCE function that calculates the Manhattan distance between two vectors L1_DISTANCE(
left  IN VECTOR,
right IN VECTOR)
RETURN BINARY_DOUBLE;
WITH q AS (SELECT vecdata AS R1 FROM vectab WHERE emp_id = 1),
     r AS (SELECT vecdata AS R2 FROM vecins WHERE emp_id = 2)
SELECT L1_DISTANCE(q.r1, r.r2)
FROM q,r;

L1_DISTANCE(Q.R1,R.R2)
----------------------
1.415E+002
 
L2_DISTANCE (new 23ai)
A shorthand version of the VECTOR_DISTANCE function that calculates the Euclidean distance between two vectors L2_DISTANCE(
left  IN VECTOR,
right IN VECTOR)
RETURN BINARY_DOUBLE;
WITH q AS (SELECT vecdata AS R1 FROM vectab WHERE emp_id = 1),
     r AS (SELECT vecdata AS R2 FROM vecins WHERE emp_id = 2)
SELECT L2_DISTANCE(q.r1, r.r2)
FROM q,r;

L2_DISTANCE(Q.R1,R.R2)
----------------------
8.626E+001
 
TO_BLOB (new 23ai)
Converts a VECTOR to a BLOB TO_BLOB(left IN VECTOR) RETURN BLOB;
TBD
 
TO_CHAR (new 23ai)
Converts a VECTOR to a VARCHAR2 string TO_CHAR(left IN VECTOR) RETURN VARCHAR2;
TBD
 
TO_CLOB (new 23ai)
Converts a VECTOR to a CLOB

Standard package overload 5		 TO_CLOB(left IN VECTOR) RETURN CLOB;
SELECT TO_CLOB(vecdata) FROM vectab;

TO_CLOB(VECDATA)
---------------------------------------------------
[1.0E+001,2.02000008E+001,-3.00300007E+001]
[3.45999985E+001,7.78000031E+001,-8.93399963E+001]
 
TO_VECTOR (new 23ai)
Converts a VARCHAR2 string to a vector

Overload 1		 TO_VECTOR(
vector_str IN VARCHAR2 CHARACTER SET any_cs,
dimensions IN NATURALN,
format     IN NATURALN)
RETURN VECTOR;
TBD
Converts a CLOB string to a vector

Overload 2		 TO_VECTOR(
vector_str IN CLOB CHARACTER SET ANY_CS,
dimensions IN NATURALN,
format     IN NATURALN)
RETURN VECTOR;
TBD
Converts a BLOB binary to a vector

Overload 3		 TO_VECTOR(
vector_str IN BLOB,
dimensions IN NATURALN,
format     IN NATURALN)
RETURN VECTOR;
TBD
 
VECTOR_DIMENSION_COUNT (new 23ai)
Returns the number of dimensions of a vector as a NUMBER VECTOR_DIMENSION_COUNT(left IN VECTOR) RETURN NUMBER;
SELECT VECTOR_DIMENSION_COUNT(vecdata) FROM vectab;

VECTOR_DIMENSION_COUNT(VECDATA)
-------------------------------
                              3
                              3
 
VECTOR_DIMENSION_FORMAT (new 23ai)
returns the storage format of the vector. It returns a VARCHAR2, which can be one of the following values: INT8, FLOAT32, FLOAT64, or BINARY VECTOR_DIMENSION_FORMAT(left IN VECTOR) RETURN VARCHAR2;
SELECT VECTOR_DIMENSION_FORMAT(vecdata) FROM vectab;

VECTOR_DIMENSION_FORMAT(VECDATA)
---------------------------------
FLOAT32
FLOAT32
 
VECTOR_DIMS (new 23ai)
Returns the number of dimensions of a vector as a NUMBER. VECTOR_DIMS is synonymous with VECTOR_DIMENSION_COUNT VECTOR_DIMS(left IN VECTOR) RETURN NUMBER;
SELECT VECTOR_DIMS(vecdata) FROM vectab;

 VECTOR_DIMS(VECDATA)
---------------------
                    3
                    3
 
VECTOR_DISTANCE (new 23ai)
The main function that you can use to calculate the distance between two vectors

Overload 1		 VECTOR_DISTANCE(
left  IN VECTOR,
right IN VECTOR,
disc  IN VARCHAR2 CHARACTER SET ANY_CS)
RETURN BINARY_DOUBLE;

From the docs:
"The third argument is a function "discriminant" and is one of the keywords: manhattan, euclidean, dot, cosine, hamming, euclidean_squared, or l2_squared. It is converted to a string literal in ph2, and it determines the vector distance opcode. The codes 0,1 are typically used for conversions. We've modified ilgen to handle the special case (pdw4)."
TBD
Overload 2 VECTOR_DISTANCE(left IN VECTOR, right IN VECTOR) RETURN BINARY_DOUBLE;
TBD
 
VECTOR_NORM (new 23ai)
Returns the Euclidean norm of a vector as a BINARY_DOUBLE. This value is also called the magnitude or size and represents the Euclidean distance between the vector and the origin VECTOR_NORM(left iN VECTOR) RETURN BINARY_DOUBLE;
SELECT vecdata, VECTOR_NORM(vecdata) FROM vectab;

VECDATA                                             VECTOR_NORM(VECDATA)
--------------------------------------------------- --------------------
[1.0E+001,2.02000008E+001,-3.00300007E+001]                   3.755E+001
[3.45999985E+001,7.78000031E+001,-8.93399963E+001]            1.234E+002
 
VECTOR_SERIALIZE (new 23ai)
Synonymous with FROM_VECTOR

Demo at right from the docs.		 VECTOR_SERIALIZE(left IN VECTOR) RETURN VARCHAR2;
SELECT vector_serialize(VECTOR('[1.1,2.2,3.3]',3,FLOAT32));

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