Oracle: Using an array datav type in package - sql

Question

I have a package which contains a procedure in which I need to query a list of id numbers, which are varchar2. I will have to query this same list multiple times, and I'd rather not have redo the query. Ideally I'd like to make a function in my package that would return the list of id numbers. So I could load the array of id numbers into a variable, and then use that variable as a table throughout my procedure. I've been googling like crazy and it just doesn't seem like it's possible. Is there some way to do this?
Note: I'm not able to create a new type at the schema level, and it won't let me do this with a local collection type.
Also, I would prefer not to use dynamic sql; the main query in my procedure is enormous, and I don't want to deal with a string of that size.
I want to do something like this:
id_number_list array_type := my_function();
select *
from my_table mt
left join table(id_number_list) idl on mt.id_number = idl.column_value;
EDIT: Thanks for your help so far! MTO's answer works for a select statement join, like I described above. However, I also need to delete from the table where the id_number is in the list. This gives me an "invalid data type" error. What could explain this? The data type should always be the same: varchar2(10).
Here I create the type at package level:
type string_list is table of varchar2(10);
Then I create a function that returns the list of id numbers (for our purposes, the "action" is always c_action_refresh, so the if statement is true):
function get_modified_ids(scope in smallint, action in smallint) return string_list is
modified_ids string_list := string_list();
last_refreshed date;
begin
last_refreshed := get_last_refreshed_date(scope,action);
if action = c_action_refresh then
select id_number
bulk collect into modified_ids
from(
select id_number
from adv.hr_giving cg
join adv.pbi_dates d
on d.DATE_FULL = trunc(cg.processed_date)
where d.RELATIVE_DATE >= last_refreshed
and d.RELATIVE_DATE <= trunc(CURRENT_DATE)
and cg.fiscal_year >= adv.current_fiscal_year - 6
union
select gi.gift_donor_id as id_number
from adv.gift gi
where gi.date_added >= last_refreshed
or gi.date_modified >= last_refreshed
union
select p.pledge_donor_id as id_number
from adv.pledge_rev p
where p.date_added >= last_refreshed
or p.date_modified >= last_refreshed
union
select a.id_number
from adv.affiliation a
where a.date_added >= last_refreshed
or a.date_modified >= last_refreshed
);
end if;
return(modified_ids);
end get_modified_ids;
Then, in my procedure, I initialize a variable by calling the function:
modified_ids string_list := get_modified_ids(scope,action);
Then I try to use the list in a delete statement:
delete from advrpt.pbi_gvg_profile_ag p
where p.id_number in
(select column_value from table(modified_ids));
This gives the error ORA-00902: invalid datatype. The type of id_number is varchar2(10). And again, it works fine in a join in a select statement.
So why am I getting this error?

Answer 1

Don't use a variable in the package (as there would only be a single variable and if your procedure is called twice in short succession then the second set of values would overwrite the first and potentially cause issues if that happened mid-way through processing the first invocation).
Instead, create a user-defined collection type:
CREATE TYPE number_list IS TABLE OF NUMBER;
And pass a collection as an argument to the procedure:
CREATE PROCEDURE your_procedure (
i_numbers IN number_list,
o_cursor1 OUT SYS_REFCURSOR,
o_cursor2 OUT SYS_REFCURSOR
)
IS
BEGIN
OPEN o_cursor1 FOR
SELECT *
FROM your_table
WHERE id MEMBER OF i_numbers;
OPEN o_cursor2 FOR
SELECT y.*
FROM your_table y
INNER JOIN TABLE(i_numbers) n
ON (y.id = n.COLUMN_VALUE);
END;
/
Then call it using, for example:
DECLARE
v_cur1 SYS_REFCURSOR;
v_cur2 SYS_REFCURSOR;
v_id your_table.id%TYPE;
v_value your_table.value%TYPE;
BEGIN
your_procedure(number_list(1,5,13), v_cur1, v_cur2);
LOOP
FETCH v_cur1 INTO v_id, v_value;
EXIT WHEN v_cur1%NOTFOUND;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(v_id || ', ' || v_value);
END LOOP;
END;
/
Or create the type as part of your package:
CREATE PACKAGE your_package AS
TYPE number_list IS TABLE OF NUMBER;
PROCEDURE your_procedure (
i_numbers IN number_list,
o_cursor1 OUT SYS_REFCURSOR,
o_cursor2 OUT SYS_REFCURSOR
);
END;
/
Then create the package body:
CREATE PACKAGE BODY your_package AS
PROCEDURE your_procedure (
i_numbers IN number_list,
o_cursor1 OUT SYS_REFCURSOR,
o_cursor2 OUT SYS_REFCURSOR
)
IS
BEGIN
OPEN o_cursor1 FOR
SELECT *
FROM your_table
WHERE id IN (SELECT COLUMN_VALUE FROM TABLE(i_numbers));
OPEN o_cursor2 FOR
SELECT y.*
FROM your_table y
INNER JOIN TABLE(i_numbers) n
ON (y.id = n.COLUMN_VALUE);
END;
END;
/
Note: The MEMBER OF operator only works with collections defined in the SQL scope and not collections defined locally in a PL/SQL scope.
Then call it using, for example:
DECLARE
v_cur1 SYS_REFCURSOR;
v_cur2 SYS_REFCURSOR;
v_id your_table.id%TYPE;
v_value your_table.value%TYPE;
BEGIN
your_package.your_procedure(your_package.number_list(1,5,13), v_cur1, v_cur2);
LOOP
FETCH v_cur1 INTO v_id, v_value;
EXIT WHEN v_cur1%NOTFOUND;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(v_id || ', ' || v_value);
END LOOP;
END;
/
fiddle

Answer 2

To me, it looks as if you have it all. If not, here's an example.
Function:
SQL> create or replace function f_test
2 return sys.odcinumberlist
3 is
4 begin
5 return sys.odcinumberlist(10, 20);
6 end;
7 /
Function created.
How to use it?
SQL> set serveroutput on
SQL> declare
2 id_number_list sys.odcinumberlist := f_test;
3 begin
4 for cur_r in (select e.deptno, e.ename
5 from emp e join table(id_number_list) idl on idl.column_value = e.deptno
6 order by 1, 2
7 )
8 loop
9 dbms_output.put_line(cur_r.deptno ||' '|| cur_r.ename);
10 end loop;
11 end;
12 /
10 CLARK
10 KING
10 MILLER
20 ADAMS
20 FORD
20 JONES
20 SCOTT
20 SMITH
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
SQL>