PL/SQL

What is PL/SQL
Procedural Language SQL An extension to SQL with design features of programming languages (procedural and object oriented) PL/SQL and Java are both supported as internal host languages within Oracle products.

Why PL/SQL
Acts as host language for stored procedures and triggers. Provides the ability to add middle tier business logic to client/server applications. Provides Portability of code from one environment to another Improves performance of multi-query transactions. Provides error handling

PL/SQL BLOCK STRUCTURE

DECLARE (optional) - variable declarations BEGIN (required) - SQL statements - PL/SQL statements or sub-blocks EXCEPTION (optional) - actions to perform when errors occur END; (required)

PL/SQL Block Types

Anonymous
DECLARE BEGIN -statements EXCEPTION END;

Procedure
PROCEDURE <name> IS BEGIN -statements EXCEPTION END;

Function
FUNCTION <name> RETURN <datatype> IS BEGIN -statements EXCEPTION END;

PL/SQL Variable Types

Scalar (char, varchar2, number, date, etc) Composite (%rowtype) Reference (pointers) LOB (large objects)

Note: Non PL/SQL variables include bind variables, host (global) variables, and parameters.

Variable Naming Conventions

Two variables can have the same name if they are in different blocks (bad idea) The variable name should not be the same as any table column names used in the block.

PL/SQL is strongly typed

All variables must be declared before their use. The assignment statement := is not the same as the equality operator = All statements end with a ;

PL/SQL Sample Program

Variable g_inv_value number DECLARE v_price number(8,2) := 10.25; v_quantity number(8,0) := 400; BEGIN :g_inv_value := v_price * v_quantity; END; / Print g_inv_value /

PL/SQL Sample Program

Set serveroutput on DECLARE v_inv_value number(10,2); v_price number(8,2) := 10.25; v_quantity number(8,0) := 400; BEGIN v_inv_value := v_price * v_quantity; dbms_output.put('The value is: '); dbms_output.put_line(v_inv_value); END; /

PL/SQL Sample Program

(with user input)
Set serveroutput on Accept p_price Prompt 'Enter the Price: ' DECLARE v_inv_value number(8,2); v_price number(8,2); v_quantity number(8,0) := 400; BEGIN v_price := &p_price; v_inv_value := v_price * v_quantity; dbms_output.put_line('******'); dbms_output.put_line('price * quantity='); dbms_output.put_line(v_inv_value); END; /
Note: PL/SQL not designed for user interface programming

PL/SQL Comments
DECLARE v_salary number(9,2) := 40000; BEGIN /* this is a multi-line comment that will be ignored by the pl/sql interpreter */ v_salary := v_salary * 2; -- nice raise END; -- end of program

SELECT INTO
SET SERVEROUTPUT ON DECLARE v_max_gpa number(3,2); v_numstudents number(4); v_lname students.lname%type; v_major students.major%type; BEGIN select max(gpa) into v_max_gpa from students; DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE ('The highest GPA is '||v_max_gpa); select count(sid) into v_numstudents from students where gpa = v_max_gpa; IF v_numstudents > 1 then DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE ('There are '||v_numstudents||' with that GPA'); ELSE select lname, major into v_lname, v_major from students where gpa=v_max_gpa; DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE ('The student name is '||v_lname); DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE ('The student major is '||v_major); END IF; END;

COMMON PL/SQL STRING FUNCTIONS

CHR(asciivalue) ASCII(string) LOWER(string) SUBSTR(string,start,substrlength) LTRIM(string) RTRIM(string) LPAD(string_to_be_padded, spaces_to_pad, |string_to_pad_with|) RPAD(string_to_be_padded, spaces_to_pad, |string_to_pad_with|) REPLACE(string, searchstring, replacestring) UPPER(string) INITCAP(string) LENGTH(string)

COMMON PL/SQL NUMERIC FUNCTIONS

ABS(value) ROUND(value, precision) MOD(value,divisor) SQRT(value) TRUNC(value,|precision|) LEAST(exp1, exp2) GREATEST(exp1, exp2)

%ROWTYPE
Set serveroutput on DECLARE v_student students%rowtype; BEGIN select * into v_student from students where sid='123456'; DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE (v_student.lname); DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE (v_student.major); DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE (v_student.gpa); END; /

CURSORS
A cursor is a private set of records An Oracle Cursor = VB recordset = JDBC ResultSet Implicit cursors are created for every query made in Oracle Explicit cursors can be declared by a programmer within PL/SQL.

Cursor Attributes
cursorname%ROWCOUNT cursorname%FOUND cursorname%NOTFOUND Cursorname%ISOPEN Rows returned so far One or more rows retrieved No rows found Is the cursor open

Explicit Cursor Control

Declare the cursor Open the cursor Fetch a row Test for end of cursor Close the cursor

Note: there is a FOR LOOP available with an implicit fetch

Sample Cursor Program

DECLARE CURSOR students_cursor IS SELECT * from students; v_student students_cursor%rowtype; /* instead we could do v_student students%rowtype */ BEGIN DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE ('******************'); OPEN students_cursor; FETCH students_cursor into v_student; WHILE students_cursor%found LOOP DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE (v_student.last); DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE (v_student.major); DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE ('******************'); FETCH students_cursor into v_student; END LOOP; CLOSE students_cursor; END; /

Sample Cursor Program

(same program without composite variable)

DECLARE CURSOR students_cursor IS SELECT last, major from students; v_Last students.last%type; v_major students.major%type; BEGIN DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE ('******************'); OPEN students_cursor; FETCH students_cursor into v_last, v_major; WHILE students_cursor%found LOOP DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE (v_last); DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE (v_major); DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE ('******************'); FETCH students_cursor into v_last, v_major; END LOOP; CLOSE students_cursor; END; /

When is PL/SQL handy

When something is too complicated for SQL When conditional branching and looping are needed Example Write a PL/SQL program that assigns email address to each employee or student in a table. Following these rules:
email address should be all lower case email address should default to first initial plus the first seven letters of the last name email can be no longer than eight characters if email is already used than use first initial plus middle initial plus first six letters of last name - if the previous address is taken use the first two letters of the first name and the first six letters of the last name. - if the previous address is taken use first six letters of last name + 01 or 02 etc

Stored Procedures
PL/SQL code stored in the database and executed when called by the user. Called by procedure name from another PL/SQL block or using EXECUTE from SQL+. For example EXEC SQR(50) Example: Create procedure SQR (v_num_to_square IN number) AS v_answer number(10); BEGIN v_answer := v_num_to_square * v_num_to_square; dbms_output.put_line(v_answer); END; /

Function
PL/SQL user defined function stored in the database and executed when a function call is made in code: example x := SQUARED(50) Example: Create or Replace Function SQUARED (p_number_to_square IN number) RETURN number IS v_answer number(10); BEGIN v_answer := p_number_to_square * p_number_to_square; RETURN(v_answer); END; /

Another Stored Procedure Example

Create or replace procedure mytabs AS CURSOR table_cursor IS Select table_name from user_tables; v_tablename varchar2(30); BEGIN open table_cursor; fetch table_cursor into v_tablename; while table_cursor%found loop dbms_output.put_line(v_tablename); fetch table_cursor into v_tablename; end loop; close table_cursor; END;

Triggers
PL/SQL code executed automatically in response to a database event, typically DML. Like other stored procedures, triggers are stored in the database. Often used to:
enforce complex constraints, especially multi-table constraints. Financial posting is an example of this. Trigger related actions implement auditing logs pop a sequence when creating token keys

Triggers do not issue transaction control statements (such as commit). Triggers are part of the SQL transaction that invoked them. USER_TRIGGERS provides a data dictionary view of triggers.

Triggers
CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER <trigger_name> [BEFORE/AFTER][DELETE/INSERT/UPDATE of <column_name |, column_name |> ON <table_name> |FOR EACH ROW| |WHEN <triggering condition>| |DECLARE| BEGIN trigger statements END; To delete a trigger use: DROP TRIGGER <trigger_name>;

Log Trigger Example

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER LOGSTUDENTCHANGES BEFORE INSERT OR DELETE OR UPDATE of Major ON STUDENTS FOR EACH ROW DECLARE v_ChangeType CHAR(1); v_sid varchar2(10); BEGIN IF INSERTING THEN V_ChangeType := 'I'; v_sid := :new.sid; ELSIF UPDATING THEN V_ChangeType := 'U'; v_sid := :new.sid; ELSE V_ChangeType := 'D'; v_sid := :old.sid; END IF; INSERT INTO MAJ_AUDIT (change_type, changed_by, timestamp, SID, old_major, new_major) VALUES (v_ChangeType, USER, SYSDATE, v_sid, :old.major, :new.major); END LOGSTUDENTCHANGES;

UpperCase Trigger Example

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER UPPERCASE BEFORE INSERT OR UPDATE ON STUDENTS FOR EACH ROW DECLARE BEGIN :new.lastname:=UPPER(:new.lastname); :new.firstname:=UPPER(:new.firstname); END UPPERCASE; /

Ben & Jerry Trigger Example

(no employee can make more than 10 times as much as the lowest paid employee)
CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER SalaryTrig BEFORE INSERT ON Employees FOR EACH ROW DECLARE v_upper_sal_limit NUMBER(10,2); v_lower_sal_limit NUMBER(10,2); BEGIN SELECT MIN(salary)*10 INTO v_upper_sal_limit FROM employees; SELECT MAX(salary)/10 INTO v_lower_sal_limit FROM employees; IF :new.salary NOT BETWEEN v_lower_sal_limit AND v_upper_sal_limit THEN RAISE_APPLICATION_ERROR(-20001,'salary out of allowed range'); END IF; END SalaryTrig; / Notes: Application error number is a parameter between 20,000 and 20,999. You could also stop the insert by "poisoning" it, changing a :new buffer value to one that you know will not pass constraint evaluation.

SEQUENCE
CREATE SEQUENCE <sequence_name> |INCREMENT BY <number>| |START WITH <start_value>| |MAXVALUE <maximum_value>|NOMAXVALUE| |MINVALUE <minimum_value>| |CYCLE|NOCYLE| |CACHE <number of values>|NOCACHE| |ORDER|NOORDER|
To pop the next sequence use: SEQUENCENAME.NEXTVAL (CURRVAL shows last pop)