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    PL/SQL FAQ

    From Oracle FAQ

    PL/SQL FAQ - Oracle's Procedural Language extension to SQL:

    Contents

    1 What is PL/SQL and what is it used for?2 What is the difference between SQL and PL/SQL?

    3 Should one use PL/SQL or Java to code procedures and triggers?

    4 How can one see if somebody modified any code?

    5 How can one search PL/SQL code for a string/ key value?

    6 How does one keep a history of PL/SQL code changes?

    7 How can I protect my PL/SQL source code?

    8 How can I know which stored PL/SQL code is wrapped?

    9 Can one print to the screen from PL/SQL?

    10 Can one read/write files from PL/SQL?

    11 Can one call DDL statements from PL/SQL?

    12 Can one use dynamic SQL statements from PL/SQL?13 What is the difference between %TYPE and %ROWTYPE?

    14 How does one get the value of a sequence into a PL/SQL variable?

    15 Can one execute an operating system command from PL/SQL?

    16 How does one loop through tables in PL/SQL?

    17 How often should one COMMIT in a PL/SQL loop? / What is the best commit strategy?

    18 I can SELECT from SQL*Plus but not from PL/SQL. What is wrong?

    19 What is a mutating and constraining table?

    20 Can one pass an object/table as an argument to a remote procedure?

    21 What is the difference between stored procedures and functions?

    22 Is there a PL/SQL Engine in SQL*Plus?

    23 Is there a limit on the size of a PL/SQL block?24 What are the PL/SQL compiler limits for block, record, subquery and label nesting?

    25 Can one COMMIT/ ROLLBACK from within a trigger?

    What is PL/SQL and what is it used for?

    SQL is a declarative language that allows database programmers to write a SQL declaration and hand it to the

    database for execution. As such, SQL cannot be used to execute procedural code with conditional, iterative and

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    sequential statements. To overcome this limitation, PL/SQL was created.

    PL/SQL is Oracle's Procedural Language extension to SQL. PL/SQL's language syntax, structure and data types

    are similar to that of Ada. Some of the statements provided by PL/SQL:

    Conditional Control Statements:

    IF ... THEN ... ELSIF ... ELSE ... END IF;

    CASE ... WHEN ... THEN ... ELSE ... END CASE;

    Iterative Statements:

    LOOP ... END LOOP;

    WHILE ... LOOP ... END LOOP;

    FOR ... IN [REVERSE] ... LOOP ... END LOOP;

    Sequential Control Statements:

    GOTO ...;

    NULL;

    The PL/SQL language includes object oriented programming techniques such as encapsulation, function

    overloading, information hiding (all but inheritance).

    PL/SQL is commonly used to write data-centric programs to manipulate data in an Oracle database.

    Example PL/SQL blocks:

    /* Remember to SET SERVEROUTPUT ON to see the output */

    BEGIN

    DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Hello World');

    END;

    /

    BEGIN

    -- A PL/SQL cursor

    FOR cursor1 IN (SELECT * FROM table1) -- This is an embedded SQL statement

    LOOP

    DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Column 1 = ' || cursor1.column1 ||

    ', Column 2 = ' || cursor1.column2);

    END LOOP;

    END;

    /

    What is the difference between SQL and PL/SQL?Both SQL and PL/SQL are languages used to access data within Oracle databases.

    SQL is a limited language that allows you to directly interact with the database. You can write queries

    (SELECT), manipulate objects (DDL) and data (DML) with SQL. However, SQL doesn't include all the things

    that normal programming languages have, such as loops and IF...THEN...ELSE statements.

    PL/SQL is a normal programming language that includes all the features of most other programming languages.

    But, it has one thing that other programming languages don't have: the ability to easily integrate with SQL.

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    Some of the differences:

    SQL is executed one statement at a time. PL/SQL is executed as a block of code.

    SQL tells the database what to do (declarative), not how to do it. In contrast, PL/SQL tell the database

    how to do things (procedural).

    SQL is used to code queries, DML and DDL statements. PL/SQL is used to code program blocks, triggers,

    functions, procedures and packages.

    You can embed SQL in a PL/SQL program, but you cannot embed PL/SQL within a SQL statement.

    Should one use PL/SQL or Java to code procedures and triggers?

    Both PL/SQL and Java can be used to create Oracle stored procedures and triggers. This often leads to

    questions like "Which of the two is the best?" and "Will Oracle ever desupport PL/SQL in favour of Java?".

    Many Oracle applications are based on PL/SQL and it would be difficult of Oracle to ever desupport PL/SQL.

    In fact, all indications are that PL/SQL still has a bright future ahead of it. Many enhancements are still being

    made to PL/SQL. For example, Oracle 9i supports native compilation of Pl/SQL code to binaries. Not to

    mention the numerous PL/SQL enhancements made in Oracle 10g and 11g.

    PL/SQL and Java appeal to different people in different job roles. The following table briefly describes the

    similarities and difference between these two language environments:

    PL/SQL:

    Can be used to create Oracle packages, procedures and triggers

    Data centric and tightly integrated into the database

    Proprietary to Oracle and difficult to port to other database systems

    Data manipulation is slightly faster in PL/SQL than in Java

    PL/SQL is a traditional procedural programming language

    Java:

    Can be used to create Oracle packages, procedures and triggers

    Open standard, not proprietary to Oracle

    Incurs some data conversion overhead between the Database and Java type

    Java is an Object Orientated language, and modules are structured into classes

    Java can be used to produce complete applications

    PS: Starting with Oracle 10g, .NET procedures can also be stored within the database (Windows only).

    Nevertheless, unlike PL/SQL and JAVA, .NET code is not usable on non-Windows systems.

    PS: In earlier releases of Oracle it was better to put as much code as possible in procedures rather than triggers.At that stage procedures executed faster than triggers as triggers had to be re-compiled every time before

    executed (unless cached). In more recent releases both triggers and procedures are compiled when created

    (stored p-code) and one can add as much code as one likes in either procedures or triggers. However, it is still

    considered a best practice to put as much of your program logic as possible into packages, rather than triggers.

    How can one see if somebody modified any code?

    The source code for stored procedures, functions and packages are stored in the Oracle Data Dictionary. One

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    be cheating.

    How can I protect my PL/SQL source code?

    Oracle provides a binary wrapper utility that can be used to scramble PL/SQL source code. This utility was

    introduced in Oracle7.2 (PL/SQL V2.2) and is located in the ORACLE_HOME/bin directory.

    The utility use human-readable PL/SQL source code as input, and writes out portable binary object code(somewhat larger than the original). The binary code can be distributed without fear of exposing your

    proprietary algorithms and methods. Oracle will still understand and know how to execute the code. Just be

    careful, there is no "decode" command available. So, don't lose your source!

    The syntax is:

    wrap iname=myscript.pls oname=xxxx.plb

    Please note: there is no legal way to unwrap a *.plb binary file. You are supposed to backup and keep your *.pls

    source files after wrapping them. However it ispossible

    for skilled hackersto unwrap

    your wrapped OraclePL/SQL code.

    How can I know which stored PL/SQL code is wrapped?

    The following query gives the list of all wrapped PL/SQL code:

    select owner, name, type

    from dba_source

    where line = 1

    and instr(text, ' wrapped'||chr(10))+instr(text, ' wrapped '||chr(10)) > 0

    order by 1, 2, 3

    /

    Can one print to the screen from PL/SQL?

    One can use the DBMS_OUTPUT package to write information to an output buffer. This buffer can be

    displayed on the screen from SQL*Plus if you issue the SET SERVEROUTPUT ON; command. For example:

    set serveroutput on

    begin

    dbms_output.put_line('Look Ma, I can print from PL/SQL!!!');

    end;

    /

    DBMS_OUTPUT is useful for debugging PL/SQL programs. However, if you print too much, the output buffer

    will overflow. In that case, set the buffer size to a larger value, eg.: set serveroutput on size 200000

    If you forget to set serveroutput on type SET SERVEROUTPUT ONonce you remember, and thenEXEC

    NULL;. If you haven't cleared the DBMS_OUTPUT buffer with the disable or enable procedure, SQL*Plus will

    display the entire contents of the buffer when it executes this dummy PL/SQL block.

    To display an empty line, it is better to use new_line procedure thanput_line with an empty string.

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    Can one read/write files from PL/SQL?

    The UTL_FILE database package can be used to read and write operating system files.

    A DBA user needs to grant you access to read from/ write to a specific directory before using this package. Here

    is an example:

    CONNECT / AS SYSDBACREATE OR REPLACE DIRECTORY mydir AS '/tmp';

    GRANT read, write ON DIRECTORY mydir TO scott;

    Provide user access to the UTL_FILE package (created by catproc.sql):

    GRANT EXECUTE ON UTL_FILE TO scott;

    Copy and paste these examples to get you started:

    Write File

    DECLARE

    fHandler UTL_FILE.FILE_TYPE;

    BEGIN

    fHandler := UTL_FILE.FOPEN('MYDIR', 'myfile', 'w');

    UTL_FILE.PUTF(fHandler, 'Look ma, Im writing to a file!!!\n');

    UTL_FILE.FCLOSE(fHandler);

    EXCEPTION

    WHEN utl_file.invalid_path THEN

    raise_application_error(-20000, 'Invalid path. Create directory or set UTL_FILE_DIR.');

    END;

    /

    Read File

    DECLARE

    fHandler UTL_FILE.FILE_TYPE;

    buf varchar2(4000);

    BEGIN

    fHandler := UTL_FILE.FOPEN('MYDIR', 'myfile', 'r');

    UTL_FILE.GET_LINE(fHandler, buf);

    dbms_output.put_line('DATA FROM FILE: '||buf);

    UTL_FILE.FCLOSE(fHandler);

    EXCEPTION

    WHEN utl_file.invalid_path THEN

    raise_application_error(-20000, 'Invalid path. Create directory or set UTL_FILE_DIR.');

    END;

    /

    NOTE: UTL_FILE was introduced with Oracle 7.3. Before Oracle 7.3 the only means of writing a file was to

    use DBMS_OUTPUT with the SQL*Plus SPOOL command.

    Can one call DDL statements from PL/SQL?

    One can call DDL statements like CREATE, DROP, TRUNCATE, etc. from PL/SQL by using the "EXECUTE

    IMMEDIATE" statement (native SQL). Examples:

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    begin

    EXECUTE IMMEDIATE 'CREATE TABLE X(A DATE)';

    end;

    begin execute Immediate 'TRUNCATE TABLE emp'; end;

    DECLARE

    var VARCHAR2(100);

    BEGIN

    var := 'CREATE TABLE temp1(col1 NUMBER(2))';

    EXECUTE IMMEDIATE var;

    END;

    NOTE: The DDL statement in quotes should not be terminated with a semicolon.

    Users running Oracle versions below Oracle 8i can look at the DBMS_SQL package (see FAQ about Dynamic

    SQL).

    Can one use dynamic SQL statements from PL/SQL?

    Starting from Oracle8i one can use the "EXECUTE IMMEDIATE" statement to execute dynamic SQL and

    PL/SQL statements (statements created at run-time). Look at these examples. Note that the statements within

    quotes are NOT semicolon terminated:

    EXECUTE IMMEDIATE 'CREATE TABLE x (a NUMBER)';

    -- Using bind variables...'

    sql_stmt := 'INSERT INTO dept VALUES (:1, :2, :3)';

    EXECUTE IMMEDIATE sql_stmt USING dept_id, dept_name, location;

    -- Returning a cursor...

    sql_stmt := 'SELECT * FROM emp WHERE empno = :id';

    EXECUTE IMMEDIATE sql_stmt INTO emp_rec USING emp_id;

    One can also use the older DBMS_SQL package (V2.1 and above) to execute dynamic statements. Look at

    these examples:

    CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE DYNSQL AS

    cur integer;

    rc integer;

    BEGIN

    cur := DBMS_SQL.OPEN_CURSOR;

    DBMS_SQL.PARSE(cur, 'CREATE TABLE X (Y DATE)', DBMS_SQL.NATIVE);

    rc := DBMS_SQL.EXECUTE(cur);

    DBMS_SQL.CLOSE_CURSOR(cur);

    END;

    /

    More complex DBMS_SQL example using bind variables:

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    CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE DEPARTMENTS(NO IN DEPT.DEPTNO%TYPE) AS

    v_cursor integer;

    v_dname char(20);

    v_rows integer;

    BEGIN

    v_cursor := DBMS_SQL.OPEN_CURSOR;

    DBMS_SQL.PARSE(v_cursor, 'select dname from dept where deptno > :x', DBMS_SQL.V7);

    DBMS_SQL.BIND_VARIABLE(v_cursor, ':x', no);

    DBMS_SQL.DEFINE_COLUMN_CHAR(v_cursor, 1, v_dname, 20);

    v_rows := DBMS_SQL.EXECUTE(v_cursor);

    loop

    if DBMS_SQL.FETCH_ROWS(v_cursor) = 0 then

    exit;

    end if;

    DBMS_SQL.COLUMN_VALUE_CHAR(v_cursor, 1, v_dname);

    DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Deptartment name: '||v_dname);

    end loop;

    DBMS_SQL.CLOSE_CURSOR(v_cursor);

    EXCEPTION

    when others then

    DBMS_SQL.CLOSE_CURSOR(v_cursor);

    raise_application_error(-20000, 'Unknown Exception Raised: '||sqlcode||' '||sqlerrm);

    END;

    /

    What is the difference between %TYPE and %ROWTYPE?Both %TYPE and %ROWTYPE are used to define variables in PL/SQL as it is defined within the database. If

    the datatype or precision of a column changes, the program automatically picks up the new definition from the

    database without having to make any code changes.

    The %TYPE and %ROWTYPE constructs provide data independence, reduces maintenance costs, and allows

    programs to adapt as the database changes to meet new business needs.

    %TYPE

    %TYPE is used to declare afieldwith the same type as that of a specified table's column. Example:

    DECLARE

    v_EmpName emp.ename%TYPE;

    BEGIN

    SELECT ename INTO v_EmpName FROM emp WHERE ROWNUM = 1;

    DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Name = ' || v_EmpName);

    END;

    /

    %ROWTYPE

    %ROWTYPE is used to declare a recordwith the same types as found in the specified database table, view or

    cursor. Examples:

    DECLARE

    v_emp emp%ROWTYPE;

    BEGIN

    v_emp.empno := 10;

    v_emp.ename := 'XXXXXXX';

    END;

    /

    How does one get the value of a sequence into a PL/SQL variable?

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    As you might know, one cannot use sequences directly from PL/SQL; Oracle prohibits this:

    i := sq_sequence.NEXTVAL;

    However, one can use embedded SQL statements to obtain sequence values:

    select sq_sequence.NEXTVAL into :i from dual;

    Note: This restriction has been removed in oracle 11g and the former syntax (direct assignment) can be used.

    Can one execute an operating system command from PL/SQL?

    There is no direct way to execute operating system commands from PL/SQL. PL/SQL doesn't have a "host"

    command, as with SQL*Plus, that allows users to call OS commands. Nevertheless, the following workarounds

    can be used:

    Database Pipes

    Write an external program (using one of the precompiler languages, OCI or Perl with Oracle access modules) to

    act as a listener on a database pipe (SYS.DBMS_PIPE). Your PL/SQL program then put requests to run

    commands in the pipe, the listener picks it up and run the requests. Results are passed back on a different

    database pipe. For a Pro*C example, see chapter 8 of the Oracle Application Developers Guide.

    CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION host_command( cmd IN VARCHAR2 )

    RETURN INTEGER IS

    status NUMBER;

    errormsg VARCHAR2(80);

    pipe_name VARCHAR2(30);

    BEGIN

    pipe_name := 'HOST_PIPE';

    dbms_pipe.pack_message( cmd );status := dbms_pipe.send_message(pipe_name);

    RETURN status;

    END;

    /

    External Procedure Listeners:

    From Oracle 8 one can call external 3GL code in a dynamically linked library (DLL or shared object). One can

    write a library in C/ C++ to do whatever is required. Defining this C/C++ function to PL/SQL makes it

    executable. Look at this External Procedure (http://www.orafaq.com/scripts/c_src/extproc.txt) example.

    Using Java

    See example at http://www.orafaq.com/scripts/plsql/oscmd.txt

    DBMS_SCHEDULER

    In Oracle 10g and above, one can execute OS commands via the DBMS_SCHEDULER package. Look at this

    example:

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    BEGIN

    dbms_scheduler.create_job(job_name => 'myjob',

    job_type => 'executable',

    job_action => '/app/oracle/x.sh',

    enabled => TRUE,

    auto_drop => TRUE);

    END;

    /

    exec dbms_scheduler.run_job('myjob');

    How does one loop through tables in PL/SQL?

    One can make use of cursors to loop through data within tables. Look at the following nested loops code

    example.

    DECLARE

    CURSOR dept_cur IS

    SELECT deptno

    FROM dept

    ORDER BY deptno;

    -- Employee cursor all employees for a dept numberCURSOR emp_cur (v_dept_no DEPT.DEPTNO%TYPE) IS

    SELECT ename

    FROM emp

    WHERE deptno = v_dept_no;

    BEGIN

    FOR dept_rec IN dept_cur LOOP

    dbms_output.put_line('Employees in Department '||TO_CHAR(dept_rec.deptno));

    FOR emp_rec in emp_cur(dept_rec.deptno) LOOP

    dbms_output.put_line('...Employee is '||emp_rec.ename);

    END LOOP;

    END LOOP;

    END;

    /

    How often should one COMMIT in a PL/SQL loop? / What is the best

    commit strategy?

    Contrary to popular belief, one should COMMIT less frequently within a PL/SQL loop to prevent ORA-1555

    (Snapshot too old) errors. The higher the frequency of commit, the sooner the extents in the undo/ rollback

    segments will be cleared for new transactions, causing ORA-1555 errors.

    To fix this problem one can easily rewrite code like this:

    FOR records IN my_cursor LOOP

    ...do some stuff...

    COMMIT;

    END LOOP;

    COMMIT;

    ... to ...

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    FOR records IN my_cursor LOOP

    ...do some stuff...

    i := i+1;

    IF mod(i, 10000) = 0 THEN -- Commit every 10000 records

    COMMIT;

    END IF;

    END LOOP;

    COMMIT;

    If you still get ORA-1555 errors, contact your DBA to increase the undo/ rollback segments.

    NOTE: Although fetching across COMMITs work with Oracle, is not supported by the ANSI standard.

    Issuing frequent commits is bad, bad, BAD! Its the WORST thing you can do just dont do it! In the

    following example I will create around 7 million rows and then attempt to update a portion of them serially. In

    addition, I will issue a commit every thousandth row.

    Example 1.1: Creating a somewhat large table

    SQL> create table big_employee_table

    2 as

    3 select rownum as eid

    4 , e.*

    5 from hr.employees e

    6 , dba_objects do;

    Table created.

    Elapsed: 00:00:12.23

    SQL> select count(*)

    2 from big_employee_table;

    COUNT(*)

    ----------

    7838713

    Elapsed: 00:00:08.11

    Before I go on, notice that Oracles Create Table As (CTAS) method blazed thru table creation. Thats 7.84Million rows in 12.23 seconds. Sometimes, this is the very best method of updating large data sets. The following

    block updates 100,000 rows, serially, committing every 1000 rows:

    Example 1.2: Updating serially

    SQL> declare

    2 cursor c is

    3 select *

    4 from big_employee_table

    5 where rownum

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    only updating a few rows, why do it in PL/SQL at all? I like Tom Kytes approach (paraphrasing):

    1. Do it in SQL.

    2. If SQL cant do it, do it in PL/SQL.

    3. If PL/SQL cant do it, do it in Java.

    4. If Java cant do it ask yourself if it needs to be done.

    The following block does the same work in bulk:

    Example 1.3: Updating in bulk and committing at the end

    SQL> declare

    2 type obj_rowid is table of rowid

    3 index by pls_integer;

    4

    5 lr_rowid obj_rowid;

    6 lr_salary dbms_sql.number_table;

    7

    8 cursor c is

    9 select rowid rid

    10 , salary

    11 from big_employee_table

    12 where rownum

    Notice that the update completed in 2 seconds! Ive seen faster but my two-gerbil sandbox machine doesnthave the power that our newer servers do. The point is that the update was incredibly fast and chewed up only

    10% of one core. So, in answer to the question of how often should I commit? I say dont until you absolutely

    have to.

    I can SELECT from SQL*Plus but not from PL/SQL. What is wrong?

    PL/SQL respect object privileges given directly to the user, but does not observe privileges given through roles.

    The consequence is that a SQL statement can work in SQL*Plus, but will give an error in PL/SQL. Choose one

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    of the following solutions:

    Grant direct access on the tables to your user. Do not use roles!

    GRANT select ON scott.emp TO my_user;

    Define your procedures with invoker rights (Oracle 8i and higher);

    create or replace procedure proc1

    authid current_user is

    begin

    ...

    Move all the tables to one user/schema.

    What is a mutating and constraining table?

    "Mutating" means "changing". A mutating table is a table that is currently being modified by an update, delete,

    or insert statement. When a trigger tries to reference a table that is in state of flux (being changed), it isconsidered "mutating" and raises an error since Oracle should not return data that has not yet reached its final

    state.

    Another way this error can occur is if the trigger has statements to change the primary, foreign or unique key

    columns of the table off which it fires. If you must have triggers on tables that have referential constraints, the

    workaround is to enforce the referential integrity through triggers as well.

    There are several restrictions in Oracle regarding triggers:

    A row-level trigger cannot query or modify a mutating table. (Of course, NEW and OLD still can be

    accessed by the trigger).A statement-level trigger cannot query or modify a mutating table if the trigger is fired as the result of a

    CASCADE delete.

    Etc.

    Can one pass an object/table as an argument to a remote procedure?

    The only way to reference an object type between databases is via a database link. Note that it is not enough to

    ust use "similar" type definitions. Look at this example:

    -- Database A: receives a PL/SQL table from database BCREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE pcalled(TabX DBMS_SQL.VARCHAR2S) IS

    BEGIN

    -- do something with TabX from database B

    null;

    END;

    /

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    -- Database B: sends a PL/SQL table to database A

    CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE pcalling IS

    TabX DBMS_SQL.VARCHAR2S@DBLINK2;

    BEGIN

    pcalled@DBLINK2(TabX);

    END;

    /

    What is the difference between stored procedures and functions?Functions MUST return a value, procedures don't need to.

    You can have DML (insert,update, delete) statements in a function. But, you cannot call such a function

    in a SQL query. For example, if you have a function that is updating a table, you cannot call that function

    from a SQL query.

    - select myFunction(field) from sometable; will throw error.

    However an autonomous transaction function can.

    You cannot call a procedure in a SQL query.

    Is there a PL/SQL Engine in SQL*Plus?

    No. Unlike Oracle Forms, SQL*Plus does not have an embedded PL/SQL engine. Thus, all your PL/SQL code is

    sent directly to the database engine for execution. This makes it much more efficient as SQL statements are not

    stripped off and sent to the database individually.

    Is there a limit on the size of a PL/SQL block?

    Yes, the max size is not an explicit byte limit, but related to the parse tree that is created when you compile the

    code. You can run the following select statement to query the size of an existing package or procedure:

    SQL> select * from dba_object_size where name = 'procedure_name';

    What are the PL/SQL compiler limits for block, record, subquery and

    label nesting?

    The following limits apply:

    Level of Block Nesting: 255

    Level of Record Nesting: 32

    Level of Subquery Nesting: 254

    Level of Label Nesting: 98

    Can one COMMIT/ ROLLBACK from within a trigger?

    A commit inside a trigger would defeat the basic definition of an atomic transaction (see ACID). Trigger logic is

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