Execute procedure with defined pl/sql table type in toad - sql

Question

I have a package as such:
CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE someschema.somepackage
AS
TYPE t_str_array IS TABLE OF VARCHAR2 (500)
INDEX BY BINARY_INTEGER;
PROCEDURE some_procedure_p (in_first IN NUMBER,
in_second IN VARCHAR2,
in_third IN t_str_array,
in_fourth IN date,
in_fifth IN date,
out_sixth_cur OUT t_some_ref);
END;
/
CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE BODY someschema.somepackage
AS
PROCEDURE some_procedure_p (in_first IN NUMBER,
in_second IN VARCHAR2,
in_third IN t_str_array,
in_fourth IN date,
in_fifth IN date,
out_sixth_cur OUT t_some_ref);
IS
BEGIN
FOR i IN in_third.FIRST .. in_third.LAST
LOOP
... do something
END LOOP COMMIT;
OPEN out_sixth_cur FOR
SELECT ... something;
END;
END somepackage;
How do I execute this procedure in toad? So far I've tried:
Right click on the procedure, click execute package, call code is generated automatically:
DECLARE
IN_FIRST NUMBER;
IN_SECOND VARCHAR2(32767);
IN_THIRD someschema.somepackage.t_str_array;
IN_FOURTH DATE;
IN_FIFTH DATE;
OUT_SIXTH_CUR someschema.somepackage.t_some_ref;
BEGIN
IN_FIRST := NULL;
IN_SECOND:= NULL;
IN_FOURTH := NULL;
IN_FIFTH := NULL;
OUT_SIXTH_CUR := NULL;
someschema.somepackage.some_procedure_p ( IN_FIRST, IN_SECOND, IN_THIRD, IN_FOURTH, IN_FIFTH, OUT_SIXTH_CUR );
:rc0_OUT_SIXTH_CUR := OUT_SIXTH_CUR;
COMMIT;
END;
I added:
IN_THIRD := t_str_array('something');
But when I ran it like this, I got the following error:
PLS-00201: identifier 'T_STR_ARRAY' must be declared
Why did I get this error if I already defined this type in the package spec?? I've tried many other ways as well but it always to complain about the type.

Answer 1

You need to fully qualify the type name when you do the assignment (at least to package level; the schema is redundant if it's your package anyway but doesn't hurt here), as well as when you declare it in your anonymous block:
IN_THIRD := someschema.somepackage.t_str_array('something');
There is nothing at database/schema level called t_str_array, and if you don't qualify it Oracle doesn't know it needs to come from the package. You might think it's obvious; but there's nothing stopping you having the same type name defined in more than one package, so you have to be clear and consistent.
But as you pointed out you then get
PLS-00222: no function with name 'T_STR_ARRAY' exists in this scope
... because it's a table type, not a varray, so it's instantiated when its declared. You don't need to explicitly instantiate it, which is why Toad hasn't done that for you. The documentation shows this type of collection is initialised as 'empty' rather than null.
To populate it you just assign a value, using an index position:
IN_THIRD(1) := 'something';
So the whole block would become:
DECLARE
IN_FIRST NUMBER;
IN_SECOND VARCHAR2(32767);
IN_THIRD someschema.somepackage.t_str_array;
IN_FOURTH DATE;
IN_FIFTH DATE;
OUT_SIXTH_CUR someschema.somepackage.t_some_ref;
BEGIN
IN_FIRST := NULL;
IN_SECOND:= NULL;
IN_THIRD(1) := 'something';
IN_FOURTH := NULL;
IN_FIFTH := NULL;
OUT_SIXTH_CUR := NULL;
someschema.somepackage.some_procedure_p ( IN_FIRST, IN_SECOND, IN_THIRD, IN_FOURTH, IN_FIFTH, OUT_SIXTH_CUR );
:rc0_OUT_SIXTH_CUR := OUT_SIXTH_CUR;
COMMIT;
END;
I'd suggest you consider changing the name of your type though; giving a table type a name that suggests it's an array is (clearly!) confusing. They are known as both associative arrays and index-by tables, so you could argue it's fine as it is, but I kind of assumed it was a varray based both on the name and how you were trying to use it. (I should have checked, of course).