PL/SQL Tutorial

PL/SQL TUTORIAL
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 ii

ABOUT THE TUTORIAL PL/SQL

Tutorial
PL/SQL is a combination of SQL along with the procedural features of programming languages. It was developed by Oracle
Corporation in the early 90's to enhance the capabilities of SQL.

PL/SQL is one of three key programming languages embedded in the Oracle Database, along with SQL itself and Java.

This tutorial will give you great understanding on PL/SQL to proceed with Oracle database and other advanced RDBMS
concepts.

Audience
This tutorial is designed for Software Professionals, who are willing to learn PL/SQL Programming Language in simple and
easy steps. This tutorial will give you great understanding on PL/SQL Programming concepts, and after completing this
tutorial, you will be at intermediate level of expertise from where you can take yourself to higher level of expertise.

Prerequisites
Before proceeding with this tutorial, you should have a basic understanding of software basic concepts like what is
database, source code, text editor and execution of programs, etc. If you already have understanding on SQL and other
computer programming language, then it will be an added advantage to proceed.

Copyright & Disclaimer Notice

©All the content and graphics on this tutorial are the property of tutorialspoint.com. Any content from
tutorialspoint.com or this tutorial may not be redistributed or reproduced in any way, shape, or form without the
written permission of tutorialspoint.com. Failure to do so is a violation of copyright laws.

This tutorial may contain inaccuracies or errors and tutorialspoint provides no guarantee regarding the accuracy of
the site or its contents including this tutorial. If you discover that the tutorialspoint.com site or this tutorial
content contains some errors, please contact us at [email protected]

iii

Table of Contents

PL/SQL Overview..................................................................... 1
Features of PL/SQL ...................................................................................
1 Advantages of PL/SQL
.............................................................................. 2
Environment............................................................................. 3
Step 1 ........................................................................................................ 3
Step 2 ........................................................................................................ 4
Step 3 ........................................................................................................ 4
Step 4 ........................................................................................................ 5
Step 5 ........................................................................................................ 6
Step 6 ........................................................................................................ 6
Step 7 ........................................................................................................ 7
Step 8 ........................................................................................................ 7
Step 9 ........................................................................................................ 8
Step 10 ...................................................................................................... 9
Step 11 .................................................................................................... 10
Final Step................................................................................................. 11
Text Editor ............................................................................................... 12
Basic Syntax .......................................................................... 13
The 'Hello World' Example:...................................................................... 13
The PL/SQL Identifiers ............................................................................ 14
The PL/SQL Delimiters ............................................................................
14 The PL/SQL Comments...........................................................................
15 PL/SQL Program Units
............................................................................ 15 Data
Types............................................................................. 17
PL/SQL Scalar Data Types and Subtypes............................................... 17
PL/SQL Numeric Data Types and Subtypes............................................ 18
PL/SQL Character Data Types and Subtypes .........................................
19 PL/SQL Boolean Data Types...................................................................
19 PL/SQL Datetime and Interval Types ......................................................
19 PL/SQL Large Object (LOB) Data Types.................................................
20 PL/SQL User-Defined Subtypes
.............................................................. 21

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NULLs in PL/SQL ....................................................................................
21 Variables ................................................................................
22 Variable Declaration in PL/SQL
............................................................... 22 Initializing Variables in
PL/SQL................................................................ 23 Variable Scope in
PL/SQL ....................................................................... 23 Assigning SQL
Query Results to PL/SQL Variables ................................ 24
Constants............................................................................... 26
Declaring a Constant ...............................................................................
26 The PL/SQL Literals ................................................................................
27 Operators ...............................................................................
28 Arithmetic
Operators................................................................................ 28
Example:.................................................................................................. 29
Relational Operators................................................................................ 29
Example:.................................................................................................. 29
Comparison Operators ............................................................................ 30
LIKE Operator:......................................................................................... 31
BETWEEN Operator:............................................................................... 31
IN and IS NULL Operators:...................................................................... 32
Logical Operators .................................................................................... 33
Example:.................................................................................................. 33
PL/SQL Operator Precedence................................................................. 33
Example:.................................................................................................. 34
Conditions .............................................................................. 35
Syntax:..................................................................................................... 36
Flow Diagram:.......................................................................................... 36
Example 1:............................................................................................... 37
Example 2:............................................................................................... 37
Syntax:..................................................................................................... 38
Flow Diagram:.......................................................................................... 38
Example:.................................................................................................. 39
Syntax:..................................................................................................... 40
Example:.................................................................................................. 40
Syntax:..................................................................................................... 40
Flow Diagram:.......................................................................................... 41
Example:.................................................................................................. 41
Syntax:..................................................................................................... 42
Flow Diagram:.......................................................................................... 42
Example:.................................................................................................. 42
Syntax:..................................................................................................... 43

iii
Example:.................................................................................................. 43
Loops ..................................................................................... 44
Syntax:..................................................................................................... 45
Example:.................................................................................................. 45
Syntax:..................................................................................................... 46
Example:.................................................................................................. 46
Syntax:..................................................................................................... 47
Example:.................................................................................................. 47
Reverse FOR LOOP Statement............................................................... 48
Example:.................................................................................................. 49
Labeling a PL/SQL Loop.......................................................................... 50
The Loop Control Statements.................................................................. 51
Syntax:..................................................................................................... 51
Flow Diagram:.......................................................................................... 51
Example:.................................................................................................. 52
The EXIT WHEN Statement ....................................................................
52 Syntax:.....................................................................................................
52 Example:..................................................................................................
52 Syntax:.....................................................................................................
53 Flow Diagram:..........................................................................................
53 Example:..................................................................................................
54 Syntax:.....................................................................................................
54 Flow Diagram:..........................................................................................
55 Example:..................................................................................................
55 Restrictions with GOTO Statement..........................................................
56 Strings....................................................................................
57 Declaring String Variables
....................................................................... 57 PL/SQL String Functions
and Operators ................................................. 58 Example
1................................................................................................ 60 Example
2................................................................................................ 60
Arrays..................................................................................... 62
Creating a Varray Type............................................................................ 62
Example 1................................................................................................ 63
Procedures............................................................................. 65
Parts of a PL/SQL Subprogram ...............................................................
65 Creating a Procedure...............................................................................
66 Example:..................................................................................................
66 Executing a Standalone Procedure
......................................................... 67 Deleting a Standalone
Procedure............................................................ 67

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Parameter Modes in PL/SQL Subprograms ............................................
67 IN & OUT Mode Example 1
..................................................................... 68 IN & OUT Mode Example
2 ..................................................................... 68 Methods for Passing
Parameters............................................................. 69
POSITIONAL NOTATION....................................................................... 69
NAMED NOTATION ...............................................................................
69
MIXED NOTATION................................................................................. 69
Functions ............................................................................... 70
Example:.................................................................................................. 71
Calling a Function.................................................................................... 71
Example:.................................................................................................. 72
PL/SQL Recursive Functions................................................................... 72
Cursors .................................................................................. 74
Implicit Cursors........................................................................................ 74
Example:.................................................................................................. 75
Explicit Cursors........................................................................................ 76
Declaring the Cursor................................................................................ 76
Opening the Cursor ................................................................................. 76
Fetching the Cursor .................................................................................
76 Closing the Cursor...................................................................................
77 Example:..................................................................................................
77 Records..................................................................................
78 Table-Based Records
.............................................................................. 78 Cursor-Based
Records ............................................................................ 79 User-Defined
Records ............................................................................. 79 Defining a
Record.................................................................................... 80 Accessing
Fields...................................................................................... 80 Records
as Subprogram Parameters ...................................................... 81
Exceptions ............................................................................. 83
Syntax for Exception Handling................................................................. 83
Example................................................................................................... 83
Raising Exceptions ..................................................................................
84 User-defined Exceptions..........................................................................
84 Example:..................................................................................................
85 Pre-defined Exceptions............................................................................
85 Triggers..................................................................................
88 Benefits of
Triggers.................................................................................. 88 Creating
Triggers ..................................................................................... 89
Example:.................................................................................................. 89

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Triggering a Trigger ................................................................................. 90
Packages ............................................................................... 92
Package Specification .............................................................................
92 Package Body..........................................................................................
93 Using the Package Elements...................................................................
93 Example:..................................................................................................
93
THE PACKAGE SPECIFICATION:......................................................... 94
CREATING THE PACKAGE BODY: ...................................................... 94
USING THE PACKAGE:.........................................................................
95 Collections .............................................................................
96 Index-By
Table......................................................................................... 97
Example:.................................................................................................. 97
Example:.................................................................................................. 98
Nested Tables.......................................................................................... 98
Example:.................................................................................................. 99
Example:.................................................................................................. 99
Collection Methods ................................................................................
100 Collection Exceptions ............................................................................
101 Transactions ........................................................................
103 Starting an Ending a
Transaction........................................................... 103 Committing a
Transaction...................................................................... 104 Rolling Back
Transactions ..................................................................... 104
Savepoints............................................................................................. 104
Automatic Transaction Control............................................................... 105
Date & Time ......................................................................... 106
Field Values for Datetime and Interval Data Types................................ 106
The Datetime Data Types and Functions .............................................. 107
Examples:.............................................................................................. 109
The Interval Data Types and Functions ................................................. 110
DBMS Output....................................................................... 111
DBMS_OUTPUT Subprograms ............................................................. 111
Example:................................................................................................ 112
Object Oriented.................................................................... 113
Instantiating an Object ........................................................................... 114
Member Methods................................................................................... 114
Using Map method................................................................................. 115
Using Order method .............................................................................. 116
Inheritance for PL/SQL Objects: ............................................................ 117
Abstract Objects in PL/SQL ................................................................... 119

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1 CHAPTER

PL/SQL Overview
This chapter describes the basic definition and concepts PL/SQL:

T he PL/SQL programming language was developed by Oracle Corporation in the late

1980s as procedural extension language for SQL and the Oracle relational database. Following
are notable facts about PL/SQL:
∙ PL/SQL is a completely portable, high-performance transaction-processing language. ∙

PL/SQL provides a built-in interpreted and OS independent programming environment. ∙

PL/SQL can also directly be called from the command-line SQL*Plus interface. ∙ Direct call

can also be made from external programming language calls to database. ∙ PL/SQL's

general syntax is based on that of ADA and Pascal programming language. ∙ Apart from

Oracle, PL/SQL is available in TimesTen in-memory database and IBM DB2.

Features of PL/SQL

PL/SQL has the following features:

∙ PL/SQL is tightly integrated with SQL.

∙ It offers extensive error checking.

∙ It offers numerous data types.

∙ It offers a variety of programming structures.

∙ It supports structured programming through functions and procedures. ∙

It supports object-oriented programming.

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∙ It supports developing web applications and server pages.

Advantages of PL/SQL
PL/SQL has the following advantages:

∙ SQL is the standard database language and PL/SQL is strongly integrated with SQL. PL/SQL
supports both static and dynamic SQL. Static SQL supports DML operations and transaction
control from PL/SQL block. Dynamic SQL is SQL allows embedding DDL statements in PL/SQL
blocks.

∙ PL/SQL allows sending an entire block of statements to the database at one time. This
reduces network traffic and provides high performance for the applications.

∙ PL/SQL gives high productivity to programmers as it can query, transform, and update data in a
database.

∙ PL/SQL saves time on design and debugging by strong features, such as exception handling,
encapsulation, data hiding, and object-oriented data types.

∙ Applications written in PL/SQL are fully portable.

∙ PL/SQL provides high security level.

∙ PL/SQL provides access to predefined SQL packages.

∙ PL/SQL provides support for Object-Oriented Programming.

∙ PL/SQL provides support for Developing Web Applications and Server Pages.

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2
CHAPTER

Environment
This chapter describes the environment setup for starting with PL/SQL:

P L/SQL is not a stand-alone programming language; it is a tool within the Oracle

programming environment. SQL* Plus is an interactive tool that allows you to type SQL and
PL/SQL statements at the command prompt. These commands are then sent to the database for
processing. Once the statements are processed, the results are sent back and displayed on
screen.

To run PL/SQL programs, you should have Oracle RBDMS Server installed in your machine
which will take care of executing SQL commands. Most recent version of Oracle RDBMS is 11g.
You can download a trial version of Oracle 11g from the following link:

Download Oracle 11g Express Edition

You will have to download either 32bit or 64 bit version of the installation as per your operating
system. Usually there are two files, as I have downloaded for 64 bit Windows7. You will also use
similar steps on your operating system, does not matter if it is Linux or Solaris.

∙ win64_11gR2_database_1of2.zip
∙ win64_11gR2_database_2of2.zip

After downloading above two files, you will need to unzip them in a single directory database
and under that you will find following sub-directories:

Step 1
Now, let's launch Oracle Database Installer using setup file. Following is the first screen. You
can provide your email ID and uncheck, check box and click Next button:

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Step 2
You will have the following screen, just uncheck the check box and click continue button to
proceed.

Step 3
Just select first option Create and Configure Database using radio button and click Next button
to proceed:

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Step 4
I assume you are installing Oracle just for learning purpose and you will install it on your PC or
Laptop. So select Desktop Class option and click Next button to proceed:

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Step 5
Provide a location, where you will install Oracle Server. Just modify Oracle Base and rest of the
locations will set automatically. Second, you will have to provide a password, which will be used
by system DBA. Once you provide required information, click Next button to proceed:
Step 6
Just click Next button to proceed:

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Step 7
Now, click Finish button to proceed, this will start actual server installation.
Step 8
Just wait, until Oracle starts doing required configuration.

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Step 9
Here, Oracle installation will copy required configuration files, so kindly just wait and watch:

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Step 10
Once everything is done, you will have the following dialogue box. Just click OK button and
come out.

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Step 11
Once your installation is done, you will have the following final window.

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Final Step
If everything has been done successfully, then it's time to verify your installation. At your
command prompt, use the following command if you are using Windows:
sqlplus "/ as sysdba"

If everything is fine, you should have SQL prompt where you will write your PL/SQL commands
and scripts:

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Text Editor
Running large programs from command prompt may land you in inadvertently losing some of the
work. So a better option is to use command files. To use the command files:

∙ Type your code in a text editor, like Notepad, Notepad+, or EditPlus, etc. ∙

Save the file with the .sql extension in the home directory.

∙ Launch SQL*Plus command prompt from the directory where you created your PL/SQL file. ∙

Type @file_name at the SQL*Plus command prompt to execute your program.

If you are not using a file to execute PL/SQL scripts, then simply copy your PL/SQL code and
then right click on the black window having SQL prompt and use paste option to paste complete
code at the command prompt. Finally, just press enter to execute the code, if it is not already
executed.

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 3
CHAPTER

Basic Syntax
This chapter describes the basic syntax followed:

P L/SQL is a block-structured language, meaning that PL/SQL programs are divided and

written in logical blocks of code. Each block consists of three sub-parts:

S. Sections & Description
N.

1 Declarations
This section starts with the keyword DECLARE. It is an optional section and defines
all variables, cursors, subprograms, and other elements to be used in the program.

2 Executable Commands
This section is enclosed between the keywords BEGIN and END and it is a mandatory
section. It consists of the executable PL/SQL statements of the program. It should have
at least one executable line of code, which may be just a NULL command to indicate
that nothing should be executed.

3 Exception Handling
This section starts with the keyword EXCEPTION. This section is again optional
and contains exception(s) that handle errors in the program.

Every PL/SQL statement ends with a semicolon (;). PL/SQL blocks can be nested within other
PL/SQL blocks using BEGIN and END. Here is the basic structure of a PL/SQL block:
 DECLARE
<declarations section>
BEGIN
<executable command(s)>
EXCEPTION
<exception handling>
END;

The 'Hello World' Example:

DECLARE
message varchar2(20):= 'Hello, World!';
BEGIN
dbms_output.put_line(message);

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END;
/

The end; line signals the end of the PL/SQL block. To run the code from SQL command line, you
may need to type / at the beginning of the first blank line after the last line of the code. When the
above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
Hello World

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

The PL/SQL Identifiers

PL/SQL identifiers are constants, variables, exceptions, procedures, cursors, and reserved
words. The identifiers consist of a letter optionally followed by more letters, numerals, dollar
signs, underscores, and number signs and should not exceed 30 characters.

By default, identifiers are not case-sensitive. So you can use integer or INTEGER to
represent a numeric value. You cannot use a reserved keyword as an identifier.

The PL/SQL Delimiters

A delimiter is a symbol with a special meaning. Following is the list of delimiters in PL/SQL:
Delimiter Description

+, -, *, / Addition, subtraction/negation, multiplication, division

% Attribute indicator

' Character string delimiter

. Component selector

(,) Expression or list delimiter

 : Host variable indicator

, Item separator

" Quoted identifier delimiter

= Relational operator

@ Remote access indicator

; Statement terminator

:= Assignment operator

=> Association operator

|| Concatenation operator

** Exponentiation operator

<<, >> Label delimiter (begin and end)

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/*, */ Multi-line comment delimiter (begin and end)

-- Single-line comment indicator

.. Range operator

<, >, <=, >= Relational operators

<>, '=, ~=, ^= Different versions of NOT EQUAL

The PL/SQL Comments

Program comments are explanatory statements that you can include in the PL/SQL code that
you write and helps anyone reading its source code. All programming languages allow for some
form of comments.

The PL/SQL supports single-line and multi-line comments. All characters available inside any
comment are ignored by PL/SQL compiler. The PL/SQL single-line comments start with the
delimiter --(double hyphen) and multi-line comments are enclosed by /* and */.
DECLARE
-- variable declaration
message varchar2(20):= 'Hello, World!';
BEGIN
/*
* PL/SQL executable statement(s)
*/
dbms_output.put_line(message);
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
 Hello World

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

PL/SQL Program Units

A PL/SQL unit is any one of the following:

∙ PL/SQL block

∙ Function

∙ Package

∙ Package body

∙ Procedure

∙ Trigger

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∙ Type

∙ Type body

Each of these units will be discussed in the forthcoming chapters.

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 4
CHAPTER

Data Types
This chapter describes the Data Types used under PL/SQL:

P L/SQL variables, constants and parameters must have a valid data type which specifies

a storage format, constraints, and valid range of values. This tutorial will take you through
SCALAR and LOB data types available in PL/SQL and other two data types will be covered in
other chapters.
Category Description

Scalar Single values with no internal components, such as a NUMBER,

DATE, or BOOLEAN.

Large Object (LOB) Pointers to large objects that are stored separately from other data
items, such as text, graphic images, video clips, and sound
waveforms.

Composite Data items that have internal components that can be

accessed individually. For example, collections and records.

Reference Pointers to other data items.

PL/SQL Scalar Data Types and Subtypes

PL/SQL Scalar Data Types and Subtypes come under the following categories:
Date Type Description

Numeric Numeric values on which arithmetic operations are performed.

 Character Alphanumeric values that represent single characters or strings
of characters.

Boolean Logical values on which logical operations are performed.

Datetime Dates and times.

PL/SQL provides subtypes of data types. For example, the data type NUMBER has a subtype
called INTEGER. You can use subtypes in your PL/SQL program to make the data types
compatible with data types in other programs while embedding PL/SQL code in another
program, such as a Java program.

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PL/SQL Numeric Data Types and Subtypes
Following is the detail of PL/SQL pre-defined numeric data types and their sub-types:
Data Type Description

PLS_INTEGER Signed integer in range -2,147,483,648 through

2,147,483,647, represented in 32 bits

BINARY_INTEGER Signed integer in range -2,147,483,648 through

2,147,483,647, represented in 32 bits

BINARY_FLOAT Single-precision IEEE 754-format floating-point number

BINARY_DOUBLE Double-precision IEEE 754-format floating-point number

NUMBER(prec, scale) Fixed-point or floating-point number with absolute value in range

1E-130 to (but not including) 1.0E126. A NUMBER variable can also
represent 0.

DEC(prec, scale) ANSI specific fixed-point type with maximum precision of 38

decimal digits.

DECIMAL(prec, IBM specific fixed-point type with maximum precision of 38 decimal

scale) digits.

NUMERIC(pre, Floating type with maximum precision of 38 decimal digits.

secale)

DOUBLE PRECISION ANSI specific floating-point type with maximum precision of 126
binary digits (approximately 38 decimal digits)

FLOAT ANSI and IBM specific floating-point type with maximum precision of
126 binary digits (approximately 38 decimal digits)

INT ANSI specific integer type with maximum precision of 38 decimal digits

INTEGER ANSI and IBM specific integer type with maximum precision of
38 decimal digits

SMALLINT ANSI and IBM specific integer type with maximum precision of
38 decimal digits

REAL Floating-point type with maximum precision of 63 binary

digits (approximately 18 decimal digits)
 Following is a valid declaration:
DECLARE
num1 INTEGER;
num2 REAL;
num3 DOUBLE PRECISION;
BEGIN
null;
END;
/

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed

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PL/SQL Character Data Types and Subtypes
Following is the detail of PL/SQL pre-defined character data types and their sub-types:
Data Type Description

CHAR Fixed-length character string with maximum size of 32,767 bytes

VARCHAR2 Variable-length character string with maximum size of 32,767 bytes

RAW Variable-length binary or byte string with maximum size of

32,767 bytes, not interpreted by PL/SQL

NCHAR Fixed-length national character string with maximum size of

32,767 bytes

NVARCHAR2 Variable-length national character string with maximum size of

32,767 bytes

LONG Variable-length character string with maximum size of 32,760 bytes

LONG RAW Variable-length binary or byte string with maximum size of

32,760 bytes, not interpreted by PL/SQL

ROWID Physical row identifier, the address of a row in an ordinary table

UROWID Universal row identifier (physical, logical, or foreign row identifier)

PL/SQL Boolean Data Types

The BOOLEAN data type stores logical values that are used in logical operations. The logical
values are the Boolean values TRUE and FALSE and the value NULL.

However, SQL has no data type equivalent to BOOLEAN. Therefore, Boolean values cannot be
used in:

∙ SQL statements
 ∙ Built-in SQL functions (such as TO_CHAR)

∙ PL/SQL functions invoked from SQL statements

PL/SQL Datetime and Interval Types

The DATE datatype to store fixed-length datetimes, which include the time of day in seconds
since midnight. Valid dates range from January 1, 4712 BC to December 31, 9999 AD.

The default date format is set by the Oracle initialization parameter NLS_DATE_FORMAT. For
example, the default might be 'DD-MON-YY', which includes a two-digit number for the day of
the month, an abbreviation of the month name, and the last two digits of the year, for example,
01-OCT-12.

Each DATE includes the century, year, month, day, hour, minute, and second. The following
table shows the valid values for each field:

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Field Name Valid Datetime Valid Interval Values
Values

YEAR -4712 to 9999 Any nonzero integer

(excluding year 0)

MONTH 01 to 12 0 to 11

DAY 01 to 31 (limited by Any nonzero integer

the values of
MONTH and YEAR,
according to the
rules of the calendar
for the locale)

HOUR 00 to 23 0 to 23

MINUTE 00 to 59 0 to 59

SECOND 00 to 59.9(n), where 0 to 59.9(n), where 9(n) is the precision

9(n) is the precision of interval fractional seconds
of time fractional
seconds

TIMEZONE_HOUR -12 to 14 (range Not applicable

accommodates
daylight savings time
changes)

TIMEZONE_MINUT 00 to 59 Not applicable

E

TIMEZONE_REGIO Found in the Not applicable

N dynamic
performance view
V$TIMEZONE_NAME
S
 TIMEZONE_ABBR Found in the Not applicable
dynamic
performance view
V$TIMEZONE_NAME
S

PL/SQL Large Object (LOB) Data Types

Large object (LOB) data types refer large to data items such as text, graphic images, video clips,
and sound waveforms. LOB data types allow efficient, random, piecewise access to this data.
Following are the predefined PL/SQL LOB data types:
Data Type Description Size

BFILE Used to store large System-dependent. Cannot exceed 4

binary objects in gigabytes (GB).
operating system files
outside the database.

BLOB Used to store large 8 to 128 terabytes (TB)

binary objects in the
database.

CLOB Used to store large blocks 8 to 128 TB

of character data in the
database.

NCLOB Used to store large blocks 8 to 128 TB

of NCHAR data in the
database.

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PL/SQL User-Defined Subtypes
A subtype is a subset of another data type, which is called its base type. A subtype has the
same valid operations as its base type, but only a subset of its valid values.

PL/SQL predefines several subtypes in package STANDARD. For example, PL/SQL predefines
the subtypes CHARACTER and INTEGER as follows:
SUBTYPE CHARACTER IS CHAR;
SUBTYPE INTEGER IS NUMBER(38,0);

You can define and use your own subtypes. The following program illustrates defining and using
a user-defined subtype:
DECLARE
SUBTYPE name IS char(20);
SUBTYPE message IS varchar2(100);
salutation name;
greetings message;
BEGIN
salutation := 'Reader ';
greetings := 'Welcome to the World of PL/SQL';
dbms_output.put_line('Hello ' || salutation || greetings);
END;
 /

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
Hello Reader Welcome to the World of PL/SQL

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

NULLs in PL/SQL
PL/SQL NULL values represent missing or unknown data and they are not an integer, a
character, or any other specific data type. Note that NULL is not the same as an empty data
string or the null character value '\0'. A null can be assigned but it cannot be equated with
anything, including itself.

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5
CHAPTER
Variables
This chapter describes the variables used:

A variable is nothing but a name given to a storage area that our programs can

manipulate. Each variable in PL/SQL has a specific data type, which determines the size and
layout of the variable's memory; the range of values that can be stored within that memory and
the set of operations that can be applied to the variable.

The name of a PL/SQL variable consists of a letter optionally followed by more letters, numerals,
dollar signs, underscores, and number signs and should not exceed 30 characters. By default,
variable names are not case-sensitive. You cannot use a reserved PL/SQL keyword as a
variable name.

PL/SQL programming language allows to define various types of variables,s which we will cover
in subsequent chapters like date time data types, records, collections, etc. For this chapter, let
us study only basic variable types.

Variable Declaration in PL/SQL

PL/SQL variables must be declared in the declaration section or in a package as a global
variable. When you declare a variable, PL/SQL allocates memory for the variable's value and the
storage location is identified by the variable name.

The syntax for declaring a variable is:

variable_name [CONSTANT] datatype [NOT NULL] [:= | DEFAULT initial_value]

Where, variable_name is a valid identifier in PL/SQL, datatype must be a valid PL/SQL data type
or any user defined data type which we already have discussed in last chapter. Some valid
variable declarations along with their definition are shown below:
sales number(10, 2);
pi CONSTANT double precision := 3.1415;
name varchar2(25);
address varchar2(100);

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When you provide a size, scale or precision limit with the data type, it is called a constrained
declaration. Constrained declarations require less memory than unconstrained declarations. For
example:
sales number(10, 2);
name varchar2(25);
address varchar2(100);

Initializing Variables in PL/SQL

Whenever you declare a variable, PL/SQL assigns it a default value of NULL. If you want to
initialize a variable with a value other than the NULL value, you can do so during the declaration,
using either of the following:

∙ The DEFAULT keyword

∙ The assignment operator

For example:
counter binary_integer := 0;
greetings varchar2(20) DEFAULT 'Have a Good Day';

You can also specify that a variable should not have a NULL value using the NOT NULL
constraint. If you use the NOT NULL constraint, you must explicitly assign an initial value for that
variable.

It is a good programming practice to initialize variables properly otherwise, sometimes program

would produce unexpected result. Try the following example which makes use of various types
of variables:
DECLARE
a integer := 10;
b integer := 20;
c integer;
f real;
BEGIN
c := a + b;
dbms_output.put_line('Value of c: ' || c);
f := 70.0/3.0;
dbms_output.put_line('Value of f: ' || f);
END;
/

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result:

Value of c: 30
Value of f: 23.333333333333333333

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

Variable Scope in PL/SQL

PL/SQL allows the nesting of Blocks, i.e., each program block may contain another inner block.
If a variable is declared within an inner block, it is not accessible to the outer block. However, if a
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variable is declared and accessible to an outer Block, it is also accessible to all nested inner
Blocks. There are two types of variable scope:

∙ Local variables - variables declared in an inner block and not accessible to outer blocks. ∙
Global variables - variables declared in the outermost block or a package.

Following example shows the usage of Local and Global variables in its simple form:
DECLARE
-- Global variables
num1 number := 95;
num2 number := 85;
BEGIN
dbms_output.put_line('Outer Variable num1: ' || num1);
dbms_output.put_line('Outer Variable num2: ' || num2);
DECLARE
-- Local variables
num1 number := 195;
num2 number := 185;
BEGIN
dbms_output.put_line('Inner Variable num1: ' || num1);
dbms_output.put_line('Inner Variable num2: ' || num2);
END;
END;
/

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result:

Outer Variable num1: 95
Outer Variable num2: 85
Inner Variable num1: 195
Inner Variable num2: 185

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

Assigning SQL Query Results to PL/SQL Variables

You can use the SELECT INTO statement of SQL to assign values to PL/SQL variables. For
each item in the SELECT list, there must be a corresponding, type-compatible variable in the
INTO list. The following example illustrates the concept: Let us create a table named
CUSTOMERS:

(For SQL statements please look at the SQL tutorial)

CREATE TABLE CUSTOMERS(
ID INT NOT NULL,
NAME VARCHAR (20) NOT NULL,
AGE INT NOT NULL,
ADDRESS CHAR (25),
SALARY DECIMAL (18, 2),
PRIMARY KEY (ID)
);

Table Created
Next, let us insert some values in the table:

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INSERT INTO CUSTOMERS (ID,NAME,AGE,ADDRESS,SALARY)
VALUES (1, 'Ramesh', 32, 'Ahmedabad', 2000.00 );

INSERT INTO CUSTOMERS (ID,NAME,AGE,ADDRESS,SALARY)

VALUES (2, 'Khilan', 25, 'Delhi', 1500.00 );

INSERT INTO CUSTOMERS (ID,NAME,AGE,ADDRESS,SALARY)

VALUES (3, 'kaushik', 23, 'Kota', 2000.00 );

INSERT INTO CUSTOMERS (ID,NAME,AGE,ADDRESS,SALARY)

VALUES (4, 'Chaitali', 25, 'Mumbai', 6500.00 );

INSERT INTO CUSTOMERS (ID,NAME,AGE,ADDRESS,SALARY)

VALUES (5, 'Hardik', 27, 'Bhopal', 8500.00 );

INSERT INTO CUSTOMERS (ID,NAME,AGE,ADDRESS,SALARY)

VALUES (6, 'Komal', 22, 'MP', 4500.00 );

The following program assigns values from the above table to PL/SQL variables using the
SELECT INTO clause of SQL:
DECLARE
c_id customers.id%type := 1;
c_name customers.name%type;
c_addr customers.address%type;
c_sal customers.salary%type;
BEGIN
SELECT name, address, salary INTO c_name, c_addr, c_sal
FROM customers
WHERE id = c_id;

dbms_output.put_line
('Customer ' ||c_name || ' from ' || c_addr || ' earns ' || c_sal);
END;
/

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result:

Customer Ramesh from Ahmedabad earns 2000

PL/SQL procedure completed successfully

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 6
CHAPTER

Constants
This chapter shows the usage of constants:

A constant holds a value that once declared, does not change in the program. A

constant declaration specifies its name, data type, and value, and allocates storage for it. The
declaration can also impose the NOT NULL constraint.

Declaring a Constant
A constant is declared using the CONSTANT keyword. It requires an initial value and does not
allow that value to be changed. For example:
 PI CONSTANT NUMBER := 3.141592654;
DECLARE
-- constant declaration
pi constant number := 3.141592654;
-- other declarations
radius number(5,2);
dia number(5,2);
circumference number(7, 2);
area number (10, 2);
BEGIN
-- processing
radius := 9.5;
dia := radius * 2;
circumference := 2.0 * pi * radius;
area := pi * radius * radius;
-- output
dbms_output.put_line('Radius: ' || radius);
dbms_output.put_line('Diameter: ' || dia);
dbms_output.put_line('Circumference: ' || circumference);
dbms_output.put_line('Area: ' || area);
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
Radius: 9.5
Diameter: 19

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Circumference: 59.69
Area: 283.53

Pl/SQL procedure successfully completed.

The PL/SQL Literals

A literal is an explicit numeric, character, string, or Boolean value not represented by an
identifier. For example, TRUE, 786, NULL, 'tutorialspoint' are all literals of type Boolean, number,
or string. PL/SQL, literals are case-sensitive. PL/SQL supports the following kinds of literals:

∙ Numeric Literals

∙ Character Literals

∙ String Literals

∙ BOOLEAN Literals

∙ Date and Time Literals

The following table provides examples from all these categories of literal values.
Literal Type Example:
 Numeric Literals 050 78 -14 0 +32767
6.6667 0.0 -12.0 3.14159 +7800.00
6E5 1.0E-8 3.14159e0 -1E38 -9.5e-3

Character Literals 'A' '%' '9' ' ' 'z' '('

String Literals 'Hello, world!'

'Tutorials Point'
'19-NOV-12'

BOOLEAN Literals TRUE, FALSE, and NULL.

Date and Time DATE '1978-12-25';

Literals TIMESTAMP '2012-10-29 12:01:01';

To embed single quotes within a string literal, place two single quotes next to each other as
shown below:
DECLARE
message varchar2(20):= ''That''s tutorialspoint.com!'';
BEGIN
dbms_output.put_line(message);
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
That's tutorialspoint.com!
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

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7
CHAPTER

Operators
This chapter describes the different operators used under PL/SQL:

A n operator is a symbol that tells the compiler to perform specific mathematical or

logical manipulation. PL/SQL language is rich in built-in operators and provides the following
types of operators:

∙ Arithmetic operators

∙ Relational operators

∙ Comparison operators

∙ Logical operators

∙ String operators

This tutorial will explain the arithmetic, relational, comparison and logical operators one by one.
The String operators will be discussed under the chapter: PL/SQL - Strings.

Arithmetic Operators
Following table shows all the arithmetic operators supported by PL/SQL. Assume variable A
holds 10 and variable B holds 5, then:
Operato Description Example
r

+ Adds two operands A + B will give 15

- Subtracts second operand from the first A - B will give 5

* Multiplies both operands A * B will give

50

/ Divides numerator by de-numerator A / B will give 2

** Exponentiation operator, raises one operand to the power of A ** B will

other give
100000

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Example:
BEGIN
dbms_output.put_line( 10 + 5);
dbms_output.put_line( 10 - 5);
dbms_output.put_line( 10 * 5);
dbms_output.put_line( 10 / 5);
dbms_output.put_line( 10 ** 5);
END;
/
When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
15
5
50
2
100000

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

Relational Operators
Relational operators compare two expressions or values and return a Boolean result. Following
table shows all the relational operators supported by PL/SQL. Assume variable A holds 10 and
variable B holds 20, then:
Operato Description Example
r

= Checks if the values of two operands are equal or not, if yes (A = B) is

then condition becomes true. not true.

!= Checks if the values of two operands are equal or not, if values (A != B) is

<> are not equal then condition becomes true. true.
~=

> Checks if the value of left operand is greater than the value of (A > B) is
right operand, if yes then condition becomes true. not true.

< Checks if the value of left operand is less than the value of (A < B) is
right operand, if yes then condition becomes true. true.

>= Checks if the value of left operand is greater than or equal to (A >= B) is
the value of right operand, if yes then condition becomes not true.
true.

<= Checks if the value of left operand is less than or equal to the (A <= B) is
value of right operand, if yes then condition becomes true. true.

Example:
DECLARE
a number (2) := 21;
b number (2) := 10;
BEGIN
IF (a = b) then
dbms_output.put_line('Line 1 - a is equal to b');
ELSE
dbms_output.put_line('Line 1 - a is not equal to b');
END IF;

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 IF (a < b) then
dbms_output.put_line('Line 2 - a is less than b');
ELSE
dbms_output.put_line('Line 2 - a is not less than b');
END IF;

IF ( a > b ) THEN
dbms_output.put_line('Line 3 - a is greater than b');
ELSE
dbms_output.put_line('Line 3 - a is not greater than b');
END IF;

-- Lets change value of a and b

a := 5;
b := 20;
IF ( a <= b ) THEN
dbms_output.put_line('Line 4 - a is either equal or less than b');
END IF;

IF ( b >= a ) THEN
dbms_output.put_line('Line 5 - b is either equal or greater than a');
END IF;

IF ( a <> b ) THEN
dbms_output.put_line('Line 6 - a is not equal to b');
ELSE
dbms_output.put_line('Line 6 - a is equal to b');
END IF;

END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
Line 1 - a is not equal to b
Line 2 - a is not less than b
Line 3 - a is greater than b
Line 4 - a is either equal or less than b
Line 5 - b is either equal or greater than a
Line 6 - a is not equal to b

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed

Comparison Operators
Comparison operators are used for comparing one expression to another. The result is always
either TRUE, FALSE OR NULL.
Operato Description Example
r

LIKE The LIKE operator compares a character, string, or If 'Zara Ali' like
CLOB value to a pattern and returns TRUE if the value 'Z% A_i' returns
matches the pattern and FALSE if it does not. a
Boolean true,
whereas, 'Nuha Ali'
like 'Z% A_i'
returns a Boolean
false.

BETWEE The BETWEEN operator tests whether a value lies in a If x = 10 then, x

N specified range. x BETWEEN a AND b means that x between 5 and 20
 >= a

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and x <= b. returns true, x
between 5 and
10 returns true,
but x between
11 and 20
returns false.

IN The IN operator tests set membership. x IN (set) means If x = 'm' then, x in

that x is equal to any member of set. ('a', 'b', 'c') returns
boolean false but x
in ('m', 'n', 'o')
returns Boolean
true.

IS NULL The IS NULL operator returns the BOOLEAN value If x = 'm', then 'x
TRUE if its operand is NULL or FALSE if it is not NULL. is null' returns
Comparisons involving NULL values always yield NULL. Boolean false.

LIKE Operator:
This program tests the LIKE operator, though you will learn how to write procedure in PL/SQL,
but I'm going to use a small procedure() to show the functionality of LIKE operator:
DECLARE
PROCEDURE compare (value varchar2, pattern varchar2 )
is BEGIN
IF value LIKE pattern THEN
dbms_output.put_line ('True');
ELSE
dbms_output.put_line ('False');
END IF;
END;

BEGIN
compare('Zara Ali', 'Z%A_i');
compare('Nuha Ali', 'Z%A_i');
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
True
False

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

BETWEEN Operator:
The following program shows the usage of the BETWEEN operator:
 DECLARE
x number(2) := 10;
BEGIN
IF (x between 5 and 20) THEN
dbms_output.put_line('True');
ELSE
dbms_output.put_line('False');
END IF;

IF (x BETWEEN 5 AND 10) THEN

dbms_output.put_line('True');

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ELSE
dbms_output.put_line('False');
END IF;

IF (x BETWEEN 11 AND 20) THEN

dbms_output.put_line('True');
ELSE
dbms_output.put_line('False');
END IF;
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
True
True
False

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

IN and IS NULL Operators:

The following program shows the usage of IN and IS NULL operators:
DECLARE
letter varchar2(1) := 'm';
BEGIN
IF (letter in ('a', 'b', 'c')) THEN
dbms_output.put_line('True');
ELSE
dbms_output.put_line('False');
END IF;

IF (letter in ('m', 'n', 'o')) THEN

dbms_output.put_line('True');
ELSE
dbms_output.put_line('False');
END IF;

IF (letter is null) THEN

dbms_output.put_line('True');
ELSE
dbms_output.put_line('False');
END IF;
END;
 /

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
False
True
False

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

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Logical Operators
Following table shows the Logical operators supported by PL/SQL. All these operators work on
Boolean operands and produces Boolean results. Assume variable A holds true and variable B
holds false, then:
Operato Description Example
r

and Called logical AND operator. If both the operands are true (A and B) is
then condition becomes true. false.

or Called logical OR Operator. If any of the two operands is true (A or B) is true.

then condition becomes true.

not Called logical NOT Operator. Used to reverse the logical state of not (A and B)
its operand. If a condition is true then Logical NOT operator will is true.
make it false.

Example:
DECLARE
a boolean := true;
b boolean := false;
BEGIN
IF (a AND b) THEN
dbms_output.put_line('Line 1 - Condition is true');
END IF;
IF (a OR b) THEN
dbms_output.put_line('Line 2 - Condition is true');
END IF;
IF (NOT a) THEN
dbms_output.put_line('Line 3 - a is not true');
ELSE
dbms_output.put_line('Line 3 - a is true');
END IF;
IF (NOT b) THEN
dbms_output.put_line('Line 4 - b is not true');
ELSE
dbms_output.put_line('Line 4 - b is true');
END IF;
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
 Line 2 - Condition is true
Line 3 - a is true
Line 4 - b is not true

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

PL/SQL Operator Precedence

Operator precedence determines the grouping of terms in an expression. This affects how an
expression is evaluated. Certain operators have higher precedence than others; for example, the
multiplication operator has higher precedence than the addition operator:

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For example x = 7 + 3 * 2; here, x is assigned 13, not 20 because operator * has higher
precedence than +, so it first gets multiplied with 3*2 and then adds into 7.

Here, operators with the highest precedence appear at the top of the table, those with the lowest
appear at the bottom. Within an expression, higher precedence operators will be evaluated first.
Operator Operation

** Exponentiation

+, - identity, negation

*, / multiplication, division

+, -, || addition, subtraction, concatenation

=, <, >, <=, >=, <>, !=, ~=, ^=, Comparison

IS NULL, LIKE, BETWEEN, IN

NOT logical negation

AND Conjunction

OR Inclusion

Example:
Try the following example to understand the operator precedence available in PL/SQL:
 DECLARE
a number(2) := 20;
b number(2) := 10;
c number(2) := 15;
d number(2) := 5;
e number(2) ;
BEGIN
e := (a + b) * c / d; -- ( 30 * 15 ) / 5
dbms_output.put_line('Value of (a + b) * c / d is : '|| e );

e := ((a + b) * c) / d; -- (30 * 15 ) / 5
dbms_output.put_line('Value of ((a + b) * c) / d is : ' || e );

e := (a + b) * (c / d); -- (30) * (15/5)

dbms_output.put_line('Value of (a + b) * (c / d) is : '|| e );

e := a + (b * c) / d; -- 20 + (150/5)
dbms_output.put_line('Value of a + (b * c) / d is : ' || e );
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
Value of (a + b) * c / d is : 90
Value of ((a + b) * c) / d is : 90
Value of (a + b) * (c / d) is : 90
Value of a + (b * c) / d is : 50

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

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8
CHAPTER

Conditions
This chapter describes the Decision Making Structure:
 D ecision-making structures require that the programmer specify one or more conditions

to be evaluated or tested by the program, along with a statement or statements to be executed if

the condition is determined to be true, and optionally, other statements to be executed if the
condition is determined to be false.

Following is the general from of a typical conditional (i.e., decision making) structure found in
most of the programming languages:

PL/SQL programming language provides following types of decision-making statements. Click

the following links to check their detail.

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Statement Description

IF - THEN statement The IF statement associates a condition with a sequence

of statements enclosed by the keywords THEN and END
IF. If the condition is true, the statements get executed
and if the condition is false or NULL then the IF statement
does nothing.

IF-THEN-ELSE statement IF statement adds the keyword ELSE followed by an

alternative sequence of statement. If the condition is false
or NULL , then only the alternative sequence of statements
get executed. It ensures that either of the sequence of
statements is executed.

IF-THEN-ELSIF statement It allows you to choose between several alternatives.

 Case statement Like the IF statement, the CASE statement selects one
sequence of statements to execute. However, to select
the sequence, the CASE statement uses a selector
rather than multiple Boolean expressions. A selector is
an expression whose value is used to select one of
several alternatives.

Searched CASE statement The searched CASE statement has no selector, and it's
WHEN clauses contain search conditions that yield
Boolean values.

nested IF-THEN-ELSE You can use one IF-THEN or IF-THEN-ELSIF

statement inside another IF-THEN or
IF-THEN-ELSIF statement(s).

IF - THEN statement
It is the simplest form of IF control statement, frequently used in decision making and changing
the control flow of the program execution.
The IF statement associates a condition with a sequence of statements enclosed by the
keywords THEN and END IF. If the condition is TRUE, the statements get executed, and if the
condition is FALSE or NULL, then the IF statement does nothing.

Syntax:
Syntax for IF-THEN statement is:
IF condition THEN
S;
END IF;

Where condition is a Boolean or relational condition and S is a simple or compound statement.

Example of an IF-THEN statement is:
IF (a <= 20) THEN
c:= c+1;
END IF;

If the Boolean expression condition evaluates to true, then the block of code inside the if
statement will be executed. If Boolean expression evaluates to false, then the first set of code
after the end of the if statement (after the closing end if) will be executed.

Flow Diagram:

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Example 1:
Let us try a complete example that would illustrate the concept:
DECLARE
a number(2) := 10;
BEGIN
a:= 10;
-- check the boolean condition using if statement
IF( a < 20 ) THEN
-- if condition is true then print the following
dbms_output.put_line('a is less than 20 ' );
END IF;
dbms_output.put_line('value of a is : ' || a);
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
a is less than 20
value of a is : 10

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

Example 2:
Consider we have a table and few records in the table as we had created in PL/SQL Variable
Types
DECLARE
c_id customers.id%type := 1;
c_sal customers.salary%type;
BEGIN

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 SELECT salary
INTO c_sal
FROM customers
WHERE id = c_id;
IF (c_sal <= 2000) THEN
UPDATE customers
SET salary = salary + 1000
WHERE id = c_id;
dbms_output.put_line ('Salary updated');
END IF;
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
Salary updated

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

IF-THEN-ELSE statement
A sequence of IF-THEN statements can be followed by an optional sequence of ELSE
statements, which execute when the condition is FALSE.

Syntax:
Syntax for the IF-THEN-ELSE statement is:
IF condition THEN
S1;
ELSE
S2;
END IF;

Where, S1 and S2 are different sequence of statements. In the IF-THEN-ELSE statements,

when the test condition is TRUE, the statement S1 is executed and S2 is skipped; when the test
condition is FALSE, then S1 is bypassed and statement S2 is executed. For example:
IF color = red THEN
dbms_output.put_line('You have chosen a red car')
ELSE
dbms_output.put_line('Please choose a color for your
car'); END IF;

If the Boolean expression condition evaluates to true, then the if-then block of code will be
executed, otherwise the else block of code will be executed.

Flow Diagram:
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Example:
Let us try a complete example that would illustrate the concept:
DECLARE
a number(3) := 100;
BEGIN
-- check the boolean condition using if statement
IF( a < 20 ) THEN
-- if condition is true then print the following
dbms_output.put_line('a is less than 20 ' );
ELSE
dbms_output.put_line('a is not less than 20 ' );
END IF;
dbms_output.put_line('value of a is : ' || a);
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
a is not less than 20
value of a is : 100

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

IF-THEN-ELSIF statement
The IF-THEN-ELSIF statement allows you to choose between several alternatives. An IF THEN
statement can be followed by an optional ELSIF...ELSE statement. The ELSIF clause lets you
add additional conditions.
When using IF-THEN-ELSIF statements, there are few points to keep in

mind. ∙ It's ELSIF, not ELSEIF

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∙ An IF-THEN statement can have zero or one ELSE's and it must come after any ELSIF's.

∙ An IF-THEN statement can have zero to many ELSIF's and they must come before the
ELSE.

∙ Once an ELSIF succeeds, none of the remaining ELSIF's or ELSE's will be tested.

Syntax:

The syntax of an IF-THEN-ELSIF Statement in PL/SQL programming language is:

IF(boolean_expression 1)THEN
S1; -- Executes when the boolean expression 1 is true
ELSIF( boolean_expression 2) THEN
S2; -- Executes when the boolean expression 2 is true
ELSIF( boolean_expression 3) THEN
S3; -- Executes when the boolean expression 3 is true
ELSE
S4; -- executes when the none of the above condition is true
END IF;

Example:
DECLARE
a number(3) := 100;
BEGIN
IF ( a = 10 ) THEN
dbms_output.put_line('Value of a is 10' );
ELSIF ( a = 20 ) THEN
dbms_output.put_line('Value of a is 20' );
ELSIF ( a = 30 ) THEN
dbms_output.put_line('Value of a is 30' );
ELSE
dbms_output.put_line('None of the values is matching');
END IF;
dbms_output.put_line('Exact value of a is: '|| a );
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
None of the values is matching
Exact value of a is: 100

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

Case statement
Like the IF statement, the CASE statement selects one sequence of statements to execute.
However, to select the sequence, the CASE statement uses a selector rather than multiple
Boolean expressions. A selector is an expression, whose value is used to select one of several
alternatives.

Syntax:
The syntax for case statement in PL/SQL is:

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CASE selector
WHEN 'value1' THEN S1;
WHEN 'value2' THEN S2;
WHEN 'value3' THEN S3;
...
ELSE Sn; -- default case
END CASE;

Flow Diagram:

Example:
 DECLARE
grade char(1) := 'A';
BEGIN
CASE grade
when 'A' then dbms_output.put_line('Excellent');
when 'B' then dbms_output.put_line('Very good');
when 'C' then dbms_output.put_line('Well done');
when 'D' then dbms_output.put_line('You passed');
when 'F' then dbms_output.put_line('Better try again');
else dbms_output.put_line('No such grade');
END CASE;
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:

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Excellent
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

Searched CASE statement

The searched CASE statement has no selector and its WHEN clauses contain search conditions
that give Boolean values.

Syntax:
The syntax for searched case statement in PL/SQL is:
CASE
WHEN selector = 'value1' THEN S1;
WHEN selector = 'value2' THEN S2;
WHEN selector = 'value3' THEN S3;
...
ELSE Sn; -- default case
END CASE;

Flow Diagram:
Example:
DECLARE
grade char(1) := 'B';
BEGIN
case
when grade = 'A' then dbms_output.put_line('Excellent');
when grade = 'B' then dbms_output.put_line('Very good');
when grade = 'C' then dbms_output.put_line('Well done');
when grade = 'D' then dbms_output.put_line('You passed');
when grade = 'F' then dbms_output.put_line('Better try again');
else dbms_output.put_line('No such grade');
end case;

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END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
Very good
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

Nested IF-THEN-ELSE
It is always legal in PL/SQL programming to nest IF-ELSE statements, which means you can
use one IF or ELSE IF statement inside another IF or ELSE IF statement(s).

Syntax:
 IF( boolean_expression 1)THEN
-- executes when the boolean expression 1 is true
IF(boolean_expression 2) THEN
-- executes when the boolean expression 2 is true
sequence-of-statements;
END IF;
ELSE
-- executes when the boolean expression 1 is not true
else-statements;
END IF;

Example:
DECLARE
a number(3) := 100;
b number(3) := 200;
BEGIN
-- check the boolean condition
IF( a = 100 ) THEN
-- if condition is true then check the following
IF( b = 200 ) THEN
-- if condition is true then print the following
dbms_output.put_line('Value of a is 100 and b is 200' ); END
IF;
END IF;
dbms_output.put_line('Exact value of a is : ' || a );
dbms_output.put_line('Exact value of b is : ' || b );
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
Value of a is 100 and b is 200
Exact value of a is : 100
Exact value of b is : 200

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

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9
CHAPTER
 Loops
This chapter describes the various loops used under PL/SQL:

T here may be a situation when you need to execute a block of code several number of

times. In general, statements are executed sequentially: The first statement in a function is
executed first, followed by the second, and so on.

Programming languages provide various control structures that allow for more complicated
execution paths.

A loop statement allows us to execute a statement or group of statements multiple times and
following is the general form of a loop statement in most of the programming languages:

PL/SQL provides the following types of loop to handle the looping requirements. Click the
following links to check their detail.

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 Loop Type Description

PL/SQL Basic LOOP In this loop structure, sequence of statements is enclosed

between the LOOP and END LOOP statements. At each
iteration, the sequence of statements is executed and then
control resumes at the top of the loop.

PL/SQL WHILE LOOP Repeats a statement or group of statements until a given condition
is true. It tests the condition before executing the loop body.

PL/SQL FOR LOOP Execute a sequence of statements multiple times and

abbreviates the code that manages the loop variable.

Nested loops in PL/SQL You can use one or more loop inside any another basic loop, while
or for loop.

PL/SQL Basic LOOP

Basic loop structure encloses sequence of statements in between the LOOP and END LOOP
statements. With each iteration, the sequence of statements is executed and then control
resumes at the top of the loop.

Syntax:
The syntax of a basic loop in PL/SQL programming language is:
LOOP
Sequence of statements;
END LOOP;

Here, sequence of statement(s) may be a single statement or a block of statements. An EXIT

statement or an EXIT WHEN statement is required to break the loop.

Example:
DECLARE
x number := 10;
BEGIN
LOOP
dbms_output.put_line(x);
x := x + 10;
IF x > 50 THEN
exit;
END IF;
END LOOP;
-- after exit, control resumes here
dbms_output.put_line('After Exit x is: ' || x);
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
10
20
30
40
50
After Exit x is: 60
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PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

You can use the EXIT WHEN statement instead of the EXIT statement:
DECLARE
x number := 10;
BEGIN
LOOP
dbms_output.put_line(x);
x := x + 10;
exit WHEN x > 50;
END LOOP;
-- after exit, control resumes here
dbms_output.put_line('After Exit x is: ' || x);
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
10
20
30
40
50
After Exit x is: 60

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

PL/SQL WHILE LOOP

A WHILE LOOP statement in PL/SQL programming language repeatedly executes a target
statement as long as a given condition is true.

Syntax:
WHILE condition LOOP
sequence_of_statements
END LOOP;

Example:
DECLARE
a number(2) := 10;
BEGIN
WHILE a < 20 LOOP
dbms_output.put_line('value of a: ' || a);
a := a + 1;
END LOOP;
END;
/
When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
value of a: 10

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value of a: 11
value of a: 12
value of a: 13
value of a: 14
value of a: 15
value of a: 16
value of a: 17
value of a: 18
value of a: 19

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

PL/SQL FOR LOOP

A FOR LOOP is a repetition control structure that allows you to efficiently write a loop that needs
to execute a specific number of times.

Syntax:
FOR counter IN initial_value .. final_value LOOP
sequence_of_statements;
END LOOP;

Here is the flow of control in a for loop:

∙ The initial step is executed first, and only once. This step allows you to declare and initialize
any loop control variables.

∙ Next, the condition ,i.e., initial_value .. final_value is evaluated. If it is TRUE, the body of the
loop is executed. If it is FALSE, the body of the loop does not execute and flow of control
jumps to the next statement just after the for loop.

∙ After the body of the for loop executes, the value of the counter variable is increased or
decreased.

∙ The condition is now evaluated again. If it is TRUE, the loop executes and the process repeats
itself (body of loop, then increment step, and then again condition). After the condition
becomes FALSE, the FOR-LOOP terminates.

Following are some special characteristics of PL/SQL for loop:

∙ The initial_value and final_value of the loop variable or counter can be literals, variables, or
expressions but must evaluate to numbers. Otherwise, PL/SQL raises the predefined
exception VALUE_ERROR.

∙ The initial_value need not to be 1; however, the loop counter increment (or decrement)
must be 1.
 ∙ PL/SQL allows determine the loop range dynamically at run time.

Example:
DECLARE
a number(2);
BEGIN

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FOR a in 10 .. 20 LOOP
dbms_output.put_line('value of a: ' || a);
END LOOP;
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
value of a: 10
value of a: 11
value of a: 12
value of a: 13
value of a: 14
value of a: 15
value of a: 16
value of a: 17
value of a: 18
value of a: 19
value of a: 20

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

Reverse FOR LOOP Statement

By default, iteration proceeds from the initial value to the final value, generally upward from the
lower bound to the higher bound. You can reverse this order by using the REVERSE keyword. In
such case, iteration proceeds the other way. After each iteration, the loop counter is
decremented.

However, you must write the range bounds in ascending (not descending) order. The following
program illustrates this:
DECLARE
a number(2) ;
BEGIN
FOR a IN REVERSE 10 .. 20 LOOP
dbms_output.put_line('value of a: ' || a);
END LOOP;
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
 value of a: 20
value of a: 19
value of a: 18
value of a: 17
value of a: 16
value of a: 15
value of a: 14
value of a: 13
value of a: 12
value of a: 11
value of a: 10

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

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Nested loops in PL/SQL
PL/SQL allows using one loop inside another loop. Following section shows few examples to
illustrate the concept.

The syntax for a nested basic LOOP statement in PL/SQL is as follows:

LOOP
Sequence of statements1
LOOP
Sequence of statements2
END LOOP;
END LOOP;

The syntax for a nested FOR LOOP statement in PL/SQL is as follows:

FOR counter1 IN initial_value1 .. final_value1 LOOP
sequence_of_statements1
FOR counter2 IN initial_value2 .. final_value2 LOOP
sequence_of_statements2
END LOOP;
END LOOP;

The syntax for a nested WHILE LOOP statement in Pascal is as follows:

WHILE condition1 LOOP
sequence_of_statements1
WHILE condition2 LOOP
sequence_of_statements2
END LOOP;
END LOOP;

Example:
The following program uses a nested basic loop to find the prime numbers from 2 to 100:
 DECLARE
i number(3);
j number(3);
BEGIN
i := 2;
LOOP
j:= 2;
LOOP
exit WHEN ((mod(i, j) = 0) or (j = i));
j := j +1;
END LOOP;
IF (j = i ) THEN
dbms_output.put_line(i || ' is prime');
END IF;
i := i + 1;
exit WHEN i = 50;
END LOOP;
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:

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2 is prime
3 is prime
5 is prime
7 is prime
11 is prime
13 is prime
17 is prime
19 is prime
23 is prime
29 is prime
31 is prime
37 is prime
41 is prime
43 is prime
47 is prime

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

Labeling a PL/SQL Loop

PL/SQL loops can be labeled. The label should be enclosed by double angle brackets (<< and
>>) and appear at the beginning of the LOOP statement. The label name can also appear at the
end of the LOOP statement. You may use the label in the EXIT statement to exit from the loop.

The following program illustrates the concept:

 DECLARE
i number(1);
j number(1);
BEGIN
<< outer_loop >>
FOR i IN 1..3 LOOP
<< inner_loop >>
FOR j IN 1..3 LOOP
dbms_output.put_line('i is: '|| i || ' and j is: ' || j); END
loop inner_loop;
END loop outer_loop;
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
i is: 1 and j is: 1
i is: 1 and j is: 2
i is: 1 and j is: 3
i is: 2 and j is: 1
i is: 2 and j is: 2
i is: 2 and j is: 3
i is: 3 and j is: 1
i is: 3 and j is: 2
i is: 3 and j is: 3

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

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The Loop Control Statements
Loop control statements change execution from its normal sequence. When execution leaves a
scope, all automatic objects that were created in that scope are destroyed.

PL/SQL supports the following control statements. Labeling loops also helps in taking the control
outside a loop. Click the following links to check their detail.
Control Statement Description

EXIT statement The Exit statement completes the loop and control passes to
the statement immediately after END LOOP

CONTINUE statement Causes the loop to skip the remainder of its body and
immediately retest its condition prior to reiterating.

GOTO statement Transfers control to the labeled statement. Though it is not advised
to use GOTO statement in your program.

EXIT statement
The EXIT statement in PL/SQL programming language has following two usages: ∙ When the
EXIT statement is encountered inside a loop, the loop is immediately terminated and
program control resumes at the next statement following the loop.

∙ If you are using nested loops (i.e. one loop inside another loop), the EXIT statement will stop
the execution of the innermost loop and start executing the next line of code after the block.
Syntax:
The syntax for an EXIT statement in PL/SQL is as follows:
EXIT;

Flow Diagram:

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Example:
DECLARE
a number(2) := 10;
BEGIN
-- while loop execution
WHILE a < 20 LOOP
dbms_output.put_line ('value of a: ' || a);
a := a + 1;
IF a > 15 THEN
-- terminate the loop using the exit statement
EXIT;
END IF;
END LOOP;
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
value of a: 10
value of a: 11
value of a: 12
value of a: 13
value of a: 14
value of a: 15

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

The EXIT WHEN Statement

The EXIT-WHEN statement allows the condition in the WHEN clause to be evaluated. If the
condition is true, the loop completes and control passes to the statement immediately after END
LOOP.

Following are two important aspects for the EXIT WHEN statement:

∙ Until the condition is true, the EXIT-WHEN statement acts like a NULL statement, except for
evaluating the condition, and does not terminate the loop.

∙ A statement inside the loop must change the value of the condition.

Syntax:
The syntax for an EXIT WHEN statement in PL/SQL is as follows:
EXIT WHEN condition;

The EXIT WHEN statement replaces a conditional statement like if-then used with the EXIT
statement.

Example:
DECLARE
a number(2) := 10;
BEGIN
-- while loop execution
WHILE a < 20 LOOP

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dbms_output.put_line ('value of a: ' || a);
a := a + 1;
-- terminate the loop using the exit when statement
EXIT WHEN a > 15;
END LOOP;
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
value of a: 10
value of a: 11
value of a: 12
value of a: 13
value of a: 14
value of a: 15

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

CONTINUE statement
The CONTINUE statement causes the loop to skip the remainder of its body and immediately
retest its condition prior to reiterating. In other words, it forces the next iteration of the loop to
take place, skipping any code in between.
Syntax:
The syntax for a CONTINUE statement is as follows:
CONTINUE;

Flow Diagram:

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Example:
DECLARE
a number(2) := 10;
BEGIN
-- while loop execution
WHILE a < 20 LOOP
dbms_output.put_line ('value of a: ' || a);
a := a + 1;
IF a = 15 THEN
-- skip the loop using the CONTINUE statement
a := a + 1;
CONTINUE;
END IF;
END LOOP;
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
 value of a: 10
value of a: 11
value of a: 12
value of a: 13
value of a: 14
value of a: 16
value of a: 17
value of a: 18
value of a: 19

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

GOTO statement
A GOTO statement in PL/SQL programming language provides an unconditional jump from the
GOTO to a labeled statement in the same subprogram.

NOTE: Use of GOTO statement is highly discouraged in any programming language because it
makes difficult to trace the control flow of a program, making the program hard to understand
and hard to modify. Any program that uses a GOTO can be rewritten so that it doesn't need the
GOTO.

Syntax:
The syntax for a GOTO statement in PL/SQL is as follows:
GOTO label;
..
..
<< label >>
statement;

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Flow Diagram:

Example:
 DECLARE
a number(2) := 10;
BEGIN
<<loopstart>>
-- while loop execution
WHILE a < 20 LOOP
dbms_output.put_line ('value of a: ' || a);
a := a + 1;
IF a = 15 THEN
a := a + 1;
GOTO loopstart;
END IF;
END LOOP;
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
value of a: 10
value of a: 11
value of a: 12
value of a: 13
value of a: 14
value of a: 16
value of a: 17
value of a: 18
value of a: 19

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

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Restrictions with GOTO Statement
GOTO Statement in PL/SQL imposes the following restrictions:

∙ A GOTO statement cannot branch into an IF statement, CASE statement, LOOP statement or
sub-block.

∙ A GOTO statement cannot branch from one IF statement clause to another or from one CASE
statement WHEN clause to another.

∙ A GOTO statement cannot branch from an outer block into a sub-block (that is, an inner
BEGIN-END block).

∙ A GOTO statement cannot branch out of a subprogram. To end a subprogram early, either use
the RETURN statement or have GOTO branch to a place right before the end of the
subprogram.

∙ A GOTO statement cannot branch from an exception handler back into the current BEGIN END
block. However, a GOTO statement can branch from an exception handler into an enclosing
block.
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CHAPTER

10
Strings
This chapter describes the concepts under strings:
 T he string in PL/SQL is actually a sequence of characters with an optional size

specification. The characters could be numeric, letters, blank, special characters or a

combination of all. PL/SQL offers three kinds of strings:

∙ Fixed-length strings: In such strings, programmers specify the length while declaring the
string. The string is right-padded with spaces to the length so specified.
∙ Variable-length strings: In such strings, a maximum length up to 32,767, for the string is
specified and no padding takes place.
∙ Character large objects (CLOBs): These are variable-length strings that can be up to 128
terabytes.

PL/SQL strings could be either variables or literals. A string literal is enclosed within quotation
marks. For example,
'This is a string literal.' Or 'hello world'

To include a single quote inside a string literal, you need to type two single quotes next to one
another, like:
'this isn''t what it looks like'

Declaring String Variables

Oracle database provides numerous string datatypes , like, CHAR, NCHAR, VARCHAR2,
NVARCHAR2, CLOB, and NCLOB. The datatypes prefixed with an 'N' are 'national character
set' datatypes, that store Unicode character data.

If you need to declare a variable-length string, you must provide the maximum length of that
string. For example, the VARCHAR2 data type. The following example illustrates declaring and
using some string variables:
DECLARE
name varchar2(20);
company varchar2(30);

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introduction clob;
choice char(1);
BEGIN
name := 'John Smith';
company := 'Infotech';
introduction := ' Hello! I''m John Smith from Infotech.';
choice := 'y';
IF choice = 'y' THEN
dbms_output.put_line(name);
dbms_output.put_line(company);
dbms_output.put_line(introduction);
END IF;
END;
/
 When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
John Smith
Infotech Corporation
Hello! I'm John Smith from Infotech.

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed

To declare a fixed-length string, use the CHAR datatype. Here you do not have to specify a
maximum length for a fixed-length variable. If you leave off the length constraint, Oracle
Database automatically uses a maximum length required. So following two declarations below
are identical:
red_flag CHAR(1) := 'Y';
red_flag CHAR := 'Y';

PL/SQL String Functions and Operators

PL/SQL offers the concatenation operator (||) for joining two strings. The following table provides
the string functions provided by PL/SQL:
S. Function & Purpose
N.

1 ASCII(x);
Returns the ASCII value of the character x.

2 CHR(x);
Returns the character with the ASCII value of x.

3 CONCAT(x, y);
Concatenates the strings x and y and return the appended string.

4 INITCAP(x);
Converts the initial letter of each word in x to uppercase and returns that string.

5 INSTR(x, find_string [, start] [, occurrence]);

Searches for find_string in x and returns the position at which it occurs.

6 INSTRB(x);
Returns the location of a string within another string, but returns the value in bytes.

7 LENGTH(x);
Returns the number of characters in x.

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8 LENGTHB(x);
Returns the length of a character string in bytes for single byte character set.

9 LOWER(x);
Converts the letters in x to lowercase and returns that string.

1 LPAD(x, width [, pad_string]) ;

0 Pads x with spaces to left, to bring the total length of the string up to width characters.
 1 LTRIM(x [, trim_string]);
1 Trims characters from the left of x.

1 NANVL(x, value);
2 Returns value if x matches the NaN special value (not a number), otherwise x
is returned.

1 NLS_INITCAP(x);
3 Same as the INITCAP function except that it can use a different sort method as
specified by NLSSORT.

1 NLS_LOWER(x) ;
4 Same as the LOWER function except that it can use a different sort method as
specified by NLSSORT.

1 NLS_UPPER(x);
5 Same as the UPPER function except that it can use a different sort method as
specified by NLSSORT.

1 NLSSORT(x);
6 Changes the method of sorting the characters. Must be specified before any
NLS function; otherwise, the default sort will be used.

1 NVL(x, value);
7 Returns value if x is null; otherwise, x is returned.

1 NVL2(x, value1, value2);

8 Returns value1 if x is not null; if x is null, value2 is returned.

1 REPLACE(x, search_string, replace_string);

9 Searches x for search_string and replaces it with replace_string.

2 RPAD(x, width [, pad_string]);

0 Pads x to the right.

2 RTRIM(x [, trim_string]);
1 Trims x from the right.

2 SOUNDEX(x) ;
2 Returns a string containing the phonetic representation of x.

2 SUBSTR(x, start [, length]);

3 Returns a substring of x that begins at the position specified by start. An optional
length for the substring may be supplied.

2 SUBSTRB(x);
4 Same as SUBSTR except the parameters are expressed in bytes instead of
characters for the single-byte character systems.

2 TRIM([trim_char FROM) x);

5 Trims characters from the left and right of x.

2 UPPER(x);
6 Converts the letters in x to uppercase and returns that string.

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The following examples illustrate some of the above-mentioned functions and their use:

Example 1
 DECLARE
greetings varchar2(11) := 'hello world';
BEGIN
dbms_output.put_line(UPPER(greetings));

dbms_output.put_line(LOWER(greetings));

dbms_output.put_line(INITCAP(greetings));

/* retrieve the first character in the string */

dbms_output.put_line ( SUBSTR (greetings, 1, 1));

/* retrieve the last character in the string */

dbms_output.put_line ( SUBSTR (greetings, -1, 1));

/* retrieve five characters,

starting from the seventh position. */
dbms_output.put_line ( SUBSTR (greetings, 7, 5));

/* retrieve the remainder of the string,

starting from the second position. */
dbms_output.put_line ( SUBSTR (greetings, 2));

/* find the location of the first "e" */

dbms_output.put_line ( INSTR (greetings, 'e'));
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
HELLO WORLD
hello world
Hello World
h
d
World
ello World
2

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

Example 2
DECLARE
greetings varchar2(30) := '......Hello World.....';
BEGIN
dbms_output.put_line(RTRIM(greetings,'.'));
dbms_output.put_line(LTRIM(greetings, '.'));
dbms_output.put_line(TRIM( '.' from greetings));
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:

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......Hello World
Hello World.....
Hello World

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

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CHAPTER

11
Arrays
This chapter describes concepts under Arrays:

P L/SQL programming language provides a data structure called the VARRAY, which can

store a fixed-size sequential collection of elements of the same type. A varray is used to store an
ordered collection of data, but it is often more useful to think of an array as a collection of
variables of the same type.

All varrays consist of contiguous memory locations. The lowest address corresponds to the first
element and the highest address to the last element.

An array is a part of collection type data and it stands for variable-size arrays. We will study
other collection types in a later chapter 'PL/SQL Collections'.

Each element in a varray has an index associated with it. It also has a maximum size that can be
changed dynamically.

Creating a Varray Type

A varray type is created with the CREATE TYPE statement. You must specify the maximum size
and the type of elements stored in the varray.

The basic syntax for creating a VRRAY type at the schema level is:
CREATE OR REPLACE TYPE varray_type_name IS VARRAY(n) of <element_type>

Where,
∙ varray_type_name is a valid attribute name,

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∙ n is the number of elements (maximum) in the varray,
∙ element_type is the data type of the elements of the array.

Maximum size of a varray can be changed using the ALTER TYPE statement.

For example,
CREATE Or REPLACE TYPE namearray AS VARRAY(3) OF
VARCHAR2(10); /

Type created.

The basic syntax for creating a VRRAY type within a PL/SQL block is:
TYPE varray_type_name IS VARRAY(n) of <element_type>

For example:
TYPE namearray IS VARRAY(5) OF VARCHAR2(10);
Type grades IS VARRAY(5) OF INTEGER;

Example 1
The following program illustrates using varrays:
DECLARE
type namesarray IS VARRAY(5) OF VARCHAR2(10);
type grades IS VARRAY(5) OF INTEGER;
names namesarray;
marks grades;
total integer;
BEGIN
names := namesarray('Kavita', 'Pritam', 'Ayan', 'Rishav', 'Aziz');
marks:= grades(98, 97, 78, 87, 92);
total := names.count;
dbms_output.put_line('Total '|| total || ' Students');
FOR i in 1 .. total LOOP
dbms_output.put_line('Student: ' || names(i) || '
Marks: ' || marks(i));
END LOOP;
END;
 /

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
Student: Kavita Marks: 98
Student: Pritam Marks: 97
Student: Ayan Marks: 78
Student: Rishav Marks: 87
Student: Aziz Marks: 92

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

Please note:

∙ In oracle environment, the starting index for varrays is always 1.

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∙ You can initialize the varray elements using the constructor method of the varray type, which
has the same name as the varray.

∙ Varrays are one-dimensional arrays.

∙ A varray is automatically NULL when it is declared and must be initialized before its elements
can be referenced.

Example 2
.

Elements of a varray could also be a %ROWTYPE of any database table or %TYPE of any
database table field. The following example illustrates the concept:

We will use the CUSTOMERS table stored in our database as:

Select * from customers;

+----+----------+-----+-----------+----------+
| ID | NAME | AGE | ADDRESS | SALARY |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----------+
| 1 | Ramesh | 32 | Ahmedabad | 2000.00 |
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 1500.00 |
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 2000.00 |
| 4 | Chaitali | 25 | Mumbai | 6500.00 |
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 8500.00 |
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 4500.00 |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----------+

Following example makes use of cursor, which you will study in detail in a separate chapter.
 DECLARE
CURSOR c_customers is
SELECT name FROM customers;
type c_list is varray (6) of customers.name%type;
name_list c_list := c_list();
counter integer :=0;
BEGIN
FOR n IN c_customers LOOP
counter := counter + 1;
name_list.extend;
name_list(counter) := n.name;
dbms_output.put_line('Customer('||counter
||'):'||name_list(counter));
END LOOP;
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
Customer(1): Ramesh
Customer(2): Khilan
Customer(3): kaushik
Customer(4): Chaitali
Customer(5): Hardik
Customer(6): Komal
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

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CHAPTER

12
Procedures
This chapter describes the procedures under PL/SQL:

A subprogram is a program unit/module that performs a particular task. These

subprograms are combined to form larger programs. This is basically called the 'Modular design'.
A subprogram can be invoked by another subprogram or program which is called the calling
program.
A subprogram can be created:

∙ At schema level

∙ Inside a package

∙ Inside a PL/SQL block

A schema level subprogram is a standalone subprogram. It is created with the CREATE

PROCEDURE or CREATE FUNCTION statement. It is stored in the database and can be
deleted with the DROP PROCEDURE or DROP FUNCTION statement.
A subprogram created inside a package is a packaged subprogram. It is stored in the database
and can be deleted only when the package is deleted with the DROP PACKAGE statement. We
will discuss packages in the chapter 'PL/SQL - Packages'.

PL/SQL subprograms are named PL/SQL blocks that can be invoked with a set of parameters.
PL/SQL provides two kinds of subprograms:

∙ Functions: these subprograms return a single value, mainly used to compute and return a
value.
∙ Procedures: these subprograms do not return a value directly, mainly used to perform an
action.
This chapter is going to cover important aspects of a PL/SQL procedure and we will cover
PL/SQL function in next chapter.

Parts of a PL/SQL Subprogram

Each PL/SQL subprogram has a name, and may have a parameter list. Like anonymous PL/SQL
blocks and, the named blocks a subprograms will also have following three parts:

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S. Parts & Description
N.

1 Declarative Part
It is an optional part. However, the declarative part for a subprogram does not start with
the DECLARE keyword. It contains declarations of types, cursors, constants, variables,
exceptions, and nested subprograms. These items are local to the subprogram and
cease to exist when the subprogram completes execution.

2 Executable Part
This is a mandatory part and contains statements that perform the designated action.

3 Exception-handling
This is again an optional part. It contains the code that handles run-time errors.

Creating a Procedure
A procedure is created with the CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE statement. The
simplified syntax for the CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE statement is as follows:
 CREATE [OR REPLACE] PROCEDURE procedure_name
[(parameter_name [IN | OUT | IN OUT] type [, ...])]
{IS | AS}
BEGIN
< procedure_body >
END procedure_name;

Where,
∙ procedure-name specifies the name of the procedure.

∙ [OR REPLACE] option allows modifying an existing procedure.

∙ The optional parameter list contains name, mode and types of the parameters. IN represents
that value will be passed from outside and OUT represents that this parameter will be used
to return a value outside of the procedure.

∙ procedure-body contains the executable part.

∙ The AS keyword is used instead of the IS keyword for creating a standalone procedure.

Example:
The following example creates a simple procedure that displays the string 'Hello World!' on the
screen when executed.
CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE greetings
AS
BEGIN
dbms_output.put_line('Hello World!');
END;
/

When above code is executed using SQL prompt, it will produce the following result:
Procedure created.

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Executing a Standalone Procedure
A standalone procedure can be called in two ways:

∙ Using the EXECUTE keyword

∙ Calling the name of the procedure from a PL/SQL block

The above procedure named 'greetings' can be called with the EXECUTE keyword as:
EXECUTE greetings;

The above call would display:

 Hello World

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

The procedure can also be called from another PL/SQL block:

BEGIN
greetings;
END;
/

The above call would display:

Hello World

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

Deleting a Standalone Procedure

A standalone procedure is deleted with the DROP PROCEDURE statement. Syntax for deleting
a procedure is:
DROP PROCEDURE procedure-name;

So you can drop greetings procedure by using the following statement:

BEGIN
DROP PROCEDURE greetings;
END;
/

Parameter Modes in PL/SQL Subprograms

S.N Parameter Mode & Description
.

1 IN
An IN parameter lets you pass a value to the subprogram. It is a read-only parameter.
Inside the subprogram, an IN parameter acts like a constant. It cannot be assigned a
value. You can pass a constant, literal, initialized variable, or expression as an IN
parameter. You can also

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initialize it to a default value; however, in that case, it is omitted from the subprogram call. It
is the default mode of parameter passing. Parameters are passed by reference.
 2 OUT
An OUT parameter returns a value to the calling program. Inside the subprogram, an OUT
parameter acts like a variable. You can change its value and reference the value after
assigning it. The actual parameter must be variable and it is passed by value.

2 IN OUT
An IN OUT parameter passes an initial value to a subprogram and returns an updated value
to the caller. It can be assigned a value and its value can be read.
The actual parameter corresponding to an IN OUT formal parameter must be a variable,
not a constant or an expression. Formal parameter must be assigned a value. Actual
parameter is passed by value.

IN & OUT Mode Example 1

This program finds the minimum of two values, here procedure takes two numbers using IN
mode and returns their minimum using OUT parameters.
DECLARE
a number;
b number;
c number;

PROCEDURE findMin(x IN number, y IN number, z OUT number)

IS BEGIN
IF x < y THEN
z:= x;
ELSE
z:= y;
END IF;
END;

BEGIN
a:= 23;
b:= 45;
findMin(a, b, c);
dbms_output.put_line(' Minimum of (23, 45) : ' || c);
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
Minimum of (23, 45) : 23
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

IN & OUT Mode Example 2

This procedure computes the square of value of a passed value. This example shows how we
can use same parameter to accept a value and then return another result.
DECLARE
a number;
PROCEDURE squareNum(x IN OUT number) IS
BEGIN
x := x * x;

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END;
BEGIN
a:= 23;
squareNum(a);
dbms_output.put_line(' Square of (23): ' || a);
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:
Square of (23): 529
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

Methods for Passing Parameters

Actual parameters could be passed in three ways:

∙ Positional notation

∙ Named notation

∙ Mixed notation

POSITIONAL NOTATION
In positional notation, you can call the procedure as:
findMin(a, b, c, d);

In positional notation, the first actual parameter is substituted for the first formal parameter; the
second actual parameter is substituted for the second formal parameter, and so on. So, a is
substituted for x, b is substituted for y, c is substituted for z and d is substituted for m.

NAMED NOTATION
In named notation, the actual parameter is associated with the formal parameter using the arrow
symbol ( => ). So the procedure call would look like:
findMin(x=>a, y=>b, z=>c, m=>d);

MIXED NOTATION
In mixed notation, you can mix both notations in procedure call; however, the positional notation
should precede the named notation.

The following call is legal:

findMin(a, b, c, m=>d);

But this is not legal:

findMin(x=>a, b, c, d);
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chapter describes the functions:
CHAPTER

Functions This
13

A PL/SQL function is same as a procedure except that it returns a value. Therefore, all

the discussions of the previous chapter are true for functions too.

Creating a Function
A standalone function is created using the CREATE FUNCTION statement. The simplified
syntax for the CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE statement is as follows:
CREATE [OR REPLACE] FUNCTION function_name
[(parameter_name [IN | OUT | IN OUT] type [, ...])]
RETURN return_datatype
{IS | AS}
BEGIN
< function_body >
END [function_name];

Where,

∙ function-name specifies the name of the function.

∙ [OR REPLACE] option allows modifying an existing function.

∙ The optional parameter list contains name, mode and types of the parameters. IN represents
that value will be passed from outside and OUT represents that this parameter will be used
to return a value outside of the procedure.
∙ The function must contain a return statement.

∙ RETURN clause specifies that data type you are going to return from the function. ∙

function-body contains the executable part.

∙ The AS keyword is used instead of the IS keyword for creating a standalone function.

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Example:
The following example illustrates creating and calling a standalone function. This function returns
the total number of CUSTOMERS in the customers table. We will use the CUSTOMERS table,
which we had created in PL/SQL Variables chapter:
Select * from customers;

+----+----------+-----+-----------+----------+
| ID | NAME | AGE | ADDRESS | SALARY |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----------+
| 1 | Ramesh | 32 | Ahmedabad | 2000.00 |
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 1500.00 |
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 2000.00 |
| 4 | Chaitali | 25 | Mumbai | 6500.00 |
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 8500.00 |
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 4500.00 |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----------+
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION totalCustomers
RETURN number IS
total number(2) := 0;
BEGIN
SELECT count(*) into total
FROM customers;

RETURN total;
END;
/

When above code is executed using SQL prompt, it will produce the following result:
Function created.

Calling a Function
While creating a function, you give a definition of what the function has to do. To use a function,
you will have to call that function to perform the defined task. When a program calls a function,
program control is transferred to the called function.

A called function performs defined task and when its return statement is executed or when it last
end statement is reached, it returns program control back to the main program.

To call a function you simply need to pass the required parameters along with function name and
if function returns a value then you can store returned value. Following program calls the
function totalCustomers from an anonymous block:
DECLARE
c number(2);
BEGIN
c := totalCustomers();
dbms_output.put_line('Total no. of Customers: ' || c);
END;
/

When the above code is executed at SQL prompt, it produces the following result:

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