Find Numeric Data in Oracle Character Column

Question:  I have an application where I need to ensure that my character columns only contain alpha characters. 

What is the Oracle regular expression syntax for finding numbers in a varchar2 column?

Answer:  To find numbers in a character data column (e.g. surname) from an Oracle application (APEX or SQL*Forms) the regular expression regexp_like can be used to ensure that the column does not contain numbers or other invalid characters.  In this example we use regexp_like to ensure that only the following characters are entered for a person’s name:

select distinct
    ' '||first_name||' '||middle_name||' '||last_name||' ' full_name
from
    person
where
    not regexp_like (first_name, '^[a-zA-Z .''-]+$')
or
    not regexp_like (middle_name, '^[a-zA-Z .''-]+$')
or
    not regexp_like (last_name, '^[a-zA-Z .''-]+$')
order by
    full_name;

You can also use regular expressions to validate names at data entry time within your application, ensuring that only valid name characters are entered:

if
    not regexp_like (first_name, '^[a-zA-Z .''-]+$')
or
    not regexp_like (middle_name, '^[a-zA-Z .''-]+$')
or
    not regexp_like (last_name, '^[a-zA-Z .''-]+$')
then
    dbms_output.put_line(‘Invalid characters in names.  Please re-enter’);

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