CLOB to CHAR issue with DECODE in oracle 11g

Question

I am writing a query to extract data in a usable format for a vendor to move to a new system. The query previously worked on the same data, same tables, etc, etc on an oracle 9i database. We recently had to upgrade that database to Oracle 11g. Here is my statement:

SELECT ACTIVITY_TRACKER_ID,
  MAX(DECODE(PROTOCOL_NUMBER, NULL, TO_CHAR(PROTOCOL_NUMBER1), TO_CHAR(PROTOCOL_NUMBER))) PROTOCOL_NUMBER,
  MAX(DECODE(QUESTION_ID, '1', TO_CHAR(COMMENT_NOTES))) RESEARCHPURPOSE,
  MAX(DECODE(QUESTION_ID, '-1060', TO_CHAR(COMMENT_NOTES))) NOOFSUBJECTS,
  MAX(DECODE(QUESTION_ID, '-1253', TO_CHAR(COMMENT_NOTES))) CONDUCTING,
  ''RESEARCHFUNDED,
  MAX(DECODE(QUESTION_ID,'-1332',TO_CHAR(ANS_CHOICE_NAME))) THESIS,
  MAX(DECODE(QUESTION_ID,'-1172',TO_CHAR(ANS_CHOICE_NAME))) IRBREVIEW,
  MAX(DECODE(QUESTION_ID,'-1175',TO_CHAR(ANS_CHOICE_NAME))) US,
  ''HUMANSUBJECTS,
  MAX(DECODE(QUESTION_ID,'-1337',TO_CHAR(ANS_CHOICE_NAME))) HEALTHINFO,
  ''SUBJECT_DATA_YESNO1,
  MAX(DECODE(QUESTION_ID,'-1079',TO_CHAR(COMMENT_NOTES))) SUBJECTDATA_YESNO1_EXPLAIN,
  ''SUBJECT_DATAYESNO2,
  MAX(DECODE(QUESTION_ID,'-1232',TO_CHAR(COMMENT_NOTES))) SUBJECTDATA_YESNO2_EXPLAIN,
  MAX(DECODE(QUESTION_ID,'-1233',TO_CHAR(COMMENT_NOTES))) SUBJECTDATA_3,
  MAX(DECODE(QUESTION_ID,'-1173',TO_CHAR(COMMENT_NOTES))) EXTERNALIRB,
  MAX(DECODE(QUESTION_ID,'-1173',TO_CHAR(COMMENT_NOTES))) EXTERNALIRBSTATUS,
  MAX(DECODE(QUESTION_ID,'-1173',TO_CHAR(COMMENT_NOTES))) EXTERNALIRBAPPROVALTXT,
  ''EXTERNALIRBAPPROVALDOC,
  ''INTLPERMDOC,
  MAX(DECODE(QUESTION_ID,'-1176',TO_CHAR(COMMENT_NOTES))) INTLSTAFFKNOWLEDGE,
  MAX(DECODE(QUESTION_ID,'-1176',TO_CHAR(COMMENT_NOTES))) INTLCUSTOMS,
  MAX(DECODE(QUESTION_ID,'-1176',TO_CHAR(COMMENT_NOTES))) INTLRISK,
  MAX(DECODE(QUESTION_ID,'-1176',TO_CHAR(COMMENT_NOTES))) INTLCOMM,
  MAX(DECODE(QUESTION_ID,'-1176',TO_CHAR(COMMENT_NOTES))) INTLSTUDYCHANGE,
  MAX(DECODE(QUESTION_ID,'-1176',TO_CHAR(COMMENT_NOTES))) INTLTRAINING,
  MAX(DECODE(QUESTION_ID,'-1176',TO_CHAR(COMMENT_NOTES))) INTLCITI
FROM
  (SELECT IRB_SUB_LAST_ACTIVITY.ACTIVITY_TRACKER_ID,
    IRB_SUBMISSIONS.PROTOCOL_NUMBER,
    IRB_SUBMISSIONS.PROTOCOL_TITLE,
    SUB2.PROTOCOL_NUMBER AS PROTOCOL_NUMBER1,
    IRB_COMMENTS.COMMENT_NOTES,
    IRB_ANS_CHOICE_LIST.ANS_CHOICE_NAME,
    IRB_SUB_QUES_ANSWERS.QUESTION_ID
  FROM IRB_SUBMISSIONS
  FULL JOIN IRB_SUB_LAST_ACTIVITY
  ON IRB_SUB_LAST_ACTIVITY.SUBMISSION_ID = IRB_SUBMISSIONS.SUBMISSION_ID
  FULL JOIN IRB_SUBMISSIONS SUB2
  ON IRB_SUBMISSIONS.PARENT_SUBMISSION_ID = SUB2.SUBMISSION_ID
  FULL JOIN IRB_SUB_QUES_ANSWERS
  ON IRB_SUBMISSIONS.SUBMISSION_ID = IRB_SUB_QUES_ANSWERS.SUBMISSION_ID
  AND SUB2.SUBMISSION_ID           = IRB_SUB_QUES_ANSWERS.SUBMISSION_ID
  FULL JOIN IRB_ANS_CHOICE_LIST
  ON IRB_SUB_QUES_ANSWERS.ANS_CHOICE_ID = IRB_ANS_CHOICE_LIST.ANS_CHOICE_ID
  FULL JOIN IRB_COMMENTS
  ON IRB_SUB_QUES_ANSWERS.COMMENT_ID = IRB_COMMENTS.COMMENT_ID
  )
GROUP BY ACTIVITY_TRACKER_ID

When the query is run, I get the following error:

ORA-22835: Buffer too small for CLOB to CHAR or BLOB to RAW conversion (actual: 4316, maximum: 4000)
22835. 00000 -  "Buffer too small for CLOB to CHAR or BLOB to RAW conversion (actual: %s, maximum: %s)"
*Cause:    An attempt was made to convert CLOB to CHAR or BLOB to RAW, where
           the LOB size was bigger than the buffer limit for CHAR and RAW
           types.
           Note that widths are reported in characters if character length
           semantics are in effect for the column, otherwise widths are
           reported in bytes.
*Action:   Do one of the following
           1. Make the LOB smaller before performing the conversion,
           for example, by using SUBSTR on CLOB
           2. Use DBMS_LOB.SUBSTR to convert CLOB to CHAR or BLOB to RAW.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Not sure entirely why it worked on 9i just like this before but does not on 11g BUT I just had to use DBMS_LOB.SUBSTR to get the data and then merge the columns in the spreadsheet I export to give to the vendor. i.e.:

SELECT ACTIVITY_TRACKER_ID,
  MAX(DECODE(PROTOCOL_NUMBER, NULL, TO_CHAR(PROTOCOL_NUMBER1), TO_CHAR(PROTOCOL_NUMBER))) PROTOCOL_NUMBER,
  MAX(DECODE(QUESTION_ID, '1', DBMS_LOB.SUBSTR(COMMENT_NOTES,4000,1))) RESEARCHPURPOSE1,
   MAX(DECODE(QUESTION_ID, '1', DBMS_LOB.SUBSTR(COMMENT_NOTES,4000,4001))) RESEARCHPURPOSE2
FROM
  (SELECT IRB_SUB_LAST_ACTIVITY.ACTIVITY_TRACKER_ID,
    IRB_SUBMISSIONS.PROTOCOL_NUMBER,
    IRB_SUBMISSIONS.PROTOCOL_TITLE,
    SUB2.PROTOCOL_NUMBER AS PROTOCOL_NUMBER1,
    IRB_COMMENTS.COMMENT_NOTES,
    IRB_ANS_CHOICE_LIST.ANS_CHOICE_NAME,
    IRB_SUB_QUES_ANSWERS.QUESTION_ID
  FROM IRB_SUBMISSIONS
  FULL JOIN IRB_SUB_LAST_ACTIVITY
  ON IRB_SUB_LAST_ACTIVITY.SUBMISSION_ID = IRB_SUBMISSIONS.SUBMISSION_ID
  FULL JOIN IRB_SUBMISSIONS SUB2
  ON IRB_SUBMISSIONS.PARENT_SUBMISSION_ID = SUB2.SUBMISSION_ID
  FULL JOIN IRB_SUB_QUES_ANSWERS
  ON IRB_SUBMISSIONS.SUBMISSION_ID = IRB_SUB_QUES_ANSWERS.SUBMISSION_ID
  AND SUB2.SUBMISSION_ID           = IRB_SUB_QUES_ANSWERS.SUBMISSION_ID
  FULL JOIN IRB_ANS_CHOICE_LIST
  ON IRB_SUB_QUES_ANSWERS.ANS_CHOICE_ID = IRB_ANS_CHOICE_LIST.ANS_CHOICE_ID
  FULL JOIN IRB_COMMENTS
  ON IRB_SUB_QUES_ANSWERS.COMMENT_ID = IRB_COMMENTS.COMMENT_ID
  )
GROUP BY ACTIVITY_TRACKER_ID