title: Which data type is used to store DateTime in Oracle 10g?
body: <p>Which data type is used to store date time (not only date but also time) in Oracle 10g database? I have read some where that (may be mistakenly) "<em>the Date data type in Oracle 10g can store date time</em>" but the thing doesn't seem to happen when I try to do so. </p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>The DATE datatype is a datetime datatype. It stores a date and a time.
    The date portion is based on the number of days since January 1, 4712
    BC. The time portion is based on the number of seconds since
    mid-night. <a href="http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/oracle-guide/learn-oracle-datatypes-for-sql-and-plsql-dates-10963">The link</a></p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>I tried it through Java as a front-end and directly on the Oracle terminal using the following SQL.</p>
  
  <pre><code>insert into discount 
  values(7, 'Code', 12.5, to_date('11-AUG-2012 06:05:23', 'dd-mon-yyyy hh:mi:ss'), 
  to_date('20-AUG-2012 07:50:23', 'dd-mon-yyyy hh:mi:ss'))
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>It works but (in both the cases) Oracle simply ignores the time portion and inserts only the dates specified in the SQL without any error?</p>
  
  <p>Which data type is used to store date time in Oracle 10g? Is it <code>TimeStamp</code>?</p>