oracle timestamp

[Anon]

i have a small query -

i need to know if there is an eguivalent of mssql's TIMESTAMP data type in oracle.

if possible could you also mention the insert query in your response.

thank you

[Anon]

when creating your tables, if you create a date field with the default value using Oracle's sysdate, then this will act as a timestamp, e.g.

create table goat (
goat_id int not null,
goat_name varchar2(50),
timestamp date default sysdate
)

then you just insert the goat_id and goat_name, and oracle will timestamp when the row was inserted.

unfortunately this won't help for updating rows, I'm a bit stuck on this one myself. I've tried using a trigger on update, but Oracle can't or won't trigger an update on a row that's being updated. any ideas, anyone?