title: Varchar2 variables in Oracle SQL Developer
body: <p>I'm trying to run a plsql query in SQL Developer, and I'm using variables.</p>
  
  <p>I try to run the following to see how variables work:</p>
  
  <pre><code>define FromDate varchar2 = '02-03-2019'
  select &amp;&amp;FromDate from dual;
  -- OR
  define FromDate = '02-03-2019'
  select &amp;&amp;FromDate from dual;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>This is the result in both cases:</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/fpAty.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/fpAty.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
  <p>Why is the result "-2020" and how would I be able to use <code>FromDate</code> in something like this?</p>
  
  <pre><code>select * From TABLE where test_date &gt;= to_date(&amp;&amp;FromDate, 'MM-DD-YYYY')
  </code></pre>