Checking if varchar2 column contains only numbers

What is the quickest way of checking if a varchar2 column contains only numeric values?

Use the TO_NUMBER function on the column. It will generate an error if the column contains more than just numbers. For instance, I'll set up a quick table with two rows of data:

ORA9I SQL> create table test (val varchar2(10));

Table created.

ORA9I SQL> insert into test values ('abc');

1 row created.

ORA9I SQL> insert into test values (123);

1 row created.

ORA9I SQL> commit;

Commit complete.

ORA9I SQL> select * from test;

VAL
----------
abc
123

ORA9I SQL> select to_number(val) from test where
val='123';

TO_NUMBER(VAL)
--------------
           123

ORA9I SQL> select to_number(val) from test where
val='abc';
select to_number(val) from test where val='abc'
       *
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01722: invalid number

ORA9I SQL> select to_number(val) from test;
select to_number(val) from test
       *
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01722: invalid number

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