Unable to drop table; ORA-12986: columns in partially dropped state

Question : Unable to drop table; ORA-12986: columns in partially dropped state

When I attempt to drop a table I receive the following message:
VBO-4562 : Table cannot be dropped.
ORA-00604: error occurred at recursive SQL level 1
ORA-12986: columns in partially dropped state. Submit ALTER TABLE DROP COLUMNS CONTINUE

When I issue the ALTER TABLE DROP COLUMNS CONTINUE command I receive the following message:
ORA-00955: name is already used by an existing object

There is no indication of what name is causing the problem.

As a workaround I tried to export/import into a second database and delete the table (successful) and then delete the user/schema in the original database and export/import from the second database.  When I attempt to delete the user in the original database I get the same “column partially dropped” message.

I’m stuck; any ideas?

Thanks,


 

Solution: Unable to drop table; ORA-12986: columns in partially dropped state

This is from Oracle metalink :

Bug 885315  ORA-955 possible dropping a column from table with a LOB column
This note gives a brief overview of bug 885315.

Affects:
Product (Component) Oracle Server (RDBMS)
Range of versions believed to be affected Versions >= 8.1 but
Versions confirmed as being affected (None Specified)

Platforms affected Generic (all / most platforms affected)

Fixed:
This issue is fixed in 9.0.1.0 (Base Release)

Symptoms:
Error may occur
ORA-955
Related To:
Datatypes – LOBs (CLOB/BLOB/BFILE)
Description

ORA-955 possible dropping a column from table with a LOB column