Select a column from table return by function in Oracle - sql

Question

I have a function that returns a table of custom objects. I wish to select a certain column by name from the returned result.
create or replace type sd_Serial_Number as object (
serial_number VARCHAR2(32)
);
The table of objects
create or replace type sd_Serial_Number_Table as table of sd_Serial_Number;
The function
create function get_result
return sd_Serial_Number_Table as
v_ret sd_Serial_Number_Table;
begin
select sd_Serial_Number(selected.SERIAL_NUMBER)
bulk collect into v_ret
from (
selection here
) selected;
return v_ret;
end get_result;
When I call the function this way, I get a result with a single column called SERIAL_NUMBER
select * from table(get_result());
However, I can't do something like this
select SERIAL_NUMBER from table(get_result());
Is there a way to select the column SERIAL_NUMBER ?

Answer 1

"I can't" is difficult to debug. I'll show you that I can (on the same database version you use).
SQL> SELECT * FROM v$version WHERE rownum = 1;
BANNER
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition Release 11.2.0.4.0 - 64bit Production
SQL> CREATE OR REPLACE TYPE sd_serial_number AS OBJECT
2 (
3 serial_number VARCHAR2 (32)
4 );
5 /
Type created.
SQL> CREATE OR REPLACE TYPE sd_serial_number_table AS TABLE OF sd_serial_number;
2 /
Type created.
SQL> CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION get_result
2 RETURN sd_serial_number_table
3 AS
4 v_ret sd_serial_number_table;
5 BEGIN
6 SELECT sd_serial_number (deptno)
7 BULK COLLECT INTO v_ret
8 FROM dept;
9
10 RETURN v_ret;
11 END get_result;
12 /
Function created.
Testing:
SQL> SELECT * FROM TABLE (get_result ());
SERIAL_NUMBER
--------------------------------
10
20
30
40
SQL> SELECT serial_number FROM TABLE (get_result ());
SERIAL_NUMBER
--------------------------------
10
20
30
40
SQL>