SQL & PL/SQL

I have a select statement that joins many tables with combined column count of over 1000.  I am selecting roughly 200 columns from various tables (far less than 1000 column limit).  In Oracle 11g, the select statement returns result but in Oracle 12c it throws error:

ORA-01792: maximum number of columns in a table or view is 1000

Note: Same result using either sql-developer or sqlPlus.

It this a configuration issue or a bug in Oracle 12c?  Thanks for your time.

SELECT * from v$version

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------

5 rows selected

Following script demonstrates the issue:

declare v_sql varchar2(32767);

begin

  -- create test table GREEN with 500 columns

  v_sql := 'create table GREEN (G_COLUMN_001 number(9) not null';

  for i in 1 .. 499 loop

    v_sql := v_sql || ',' || chr(10) || 'G_COLUMN_' || lpad(to_char(i+1), 3, '0') || ' varchar2(2) null';

  end loop;

  v_sql := v_sql || ')';

  execute immediate v_sql;

  -- create test table RED with 500 columns

  v_sql := 'create table RED (G_COLUMN_001 number(9) not null';

  for i in 1 .. 499 loop

    v_sql := v_sql || ',' || chr(10) || 'R_COLUMN__' || lpad(to_char(i+1), 3, '0') || ' varchar2(2) null';

  end loop;

  v_sql := v_sql || ')';

  execute immediate v_sql;

end;

/

-- create test table PURPLE with 2 columns

create table PURPLE (G_COLUMN_001 number(9) not null, P_COLUMN_002 varchar2(2));

--********************************************************************************--

-- selecting one column work!

--********************************************************************************-- 

select p.P_COLUMN_002

from GREEN g

  join RED r on g.G_COLUMN_001 = r.G_COLUMN_001

  join PURPLE p on g.G_COLUMN_001 = p.G_COLUMN_001;

--********************************************************************************--

-- notice the purple table only has 2 columns, but selecting p.* fails in Oracle 12c:

-- SQL Error: ORA-01792: maximum number of columns in a table or view is 1000

--********************************************************************************--

select p.*

from GREEN g

  join RED r on g.G_COLUMN_001 = r.G_COLUMN_001

  join PURPLE p on g.G_COLUMN_001 = p.G_COLUMN_001;

--********************************************************************************--

-- sub selecting only one column also fails in Oracle 12c:

-- SQL Error: ORA-01792: maximum number of columns in a table or view is 1000

--********************************************************************************--

select (select 1 from dual where 1 = 2) as exp_column

from GREEN g

  join RED r on g.G_COLUMN_001 = r.G_COLUMN_001

  join PURPLE p on g.G_COLUMN_001 = p.G_COLUMN_001;

drop table GREEN;

drop table RED;

drop table PURPLE;