What will happen if the inserted value is of a smaller length as defined for a VARCHAR2 data type column

If the inserted value is of a smaller length than defined for a VARCHAR2 data type column in Oracle SQL, the following will happen:

1. Acceptance of Value: Oracle SQL will accept the value without any issues. This is because VARCHAR2 data type is designed to store variable length character strings, up to a maximum length specified by the user.

2. Space Utilization: The actual space used is only for the characters stored, not the maximum length defined for the column. So, if you insert a value of smaller length, it will only use the space required for that value.

3. No Padding: Unlike CHAR data type, VARCHAR2 does not pad spaces to the unused portion. So, if the inserted value is smaller, no extra spaces will be added to make it equal to the maximum length.

4. Future Insertions: You can later insert larger values (up to the maximum length defined) in the same column for other rows. The smaller length of one value does not affect the maximum length of the column.

5. No Errors: As long as the inserted value is not larger than the maximum length defined for the VARCHAR2 column, no error will be thrown.

In summary, inserting a value of smaller length than defined for a VARCHAR2 column will not cause any issues or errors. It will simply use only the space required for the actual characters stored.