Oracle unable to convert from LONG datatype to CLOB datatype( incosistent datatype error)

Question

Oracle 11g is giving me the following error while trying to convert a long datatype to a clob. I try: select to_lob(long_col_name) from table1. I get :

[Error] Execution (1: 39): ORA-00932: inconsistent datatypes: expected - got LONG

What am i doing wrong here?

Answer 1

Found the answer here with the help of a colleague: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/B19306_01/server.102/b14200/functions185.htm But no idea why this restriction is in place