This will work CREATE OR REPLACE function search_in_table( owner varchar2, table_name varchar2, search_string varchar2) return varchar2 is stmt varchar2(32767); col varchar2(32767); begin stmt := 'select '; for c in ( select column_name from all_tab_columns where all_tab_columns.table_name=search_in_table.table_name and all_tab_columns.owner=search_in_table.owner and data_type like '%CHAR%' ) loop stmt := stmt || 'max(case when "' || c.column_name || '" LIKE ''' || search_string || ''' then ''' || c.column_name || ' ''' || ' else null end) || '; end loop; stmt:= stmt||'nvl2(count(*),null,null) from "'|| owner||'"."'||table_name||'"'; execute immediate stmt into col; return col; end; / select table_name,cols from ( select rownum, table_name, search_in_table('SCOTT',table_name,'digit') cols from all_tables where owner='SCOTT') where cols is not null;