ORACLE PL/SQL: Dynamic SQL Select using a Collection - sql

Is it possible to create a dynamic SQL statement that pulls from an existing collection?
l_collection := pack.get_items(
i_code => get_items_list.i_code ,
i_name => get_items_list.i_name );
Now, let's say I want to select a COUNT from that collection using dynamic SQL. Is that possible? Furthermore, I want to do a sub select from that collection as well.

If the collection type is declared at the schema level, it can be used in SQL statements, including dynamic ones. You need to explicitly cast it to the proper collection type, or the SQL engine has no idea what type it is.
EXECUTE IMMEDIATE
'SELECT COUNT(*) FROM TABLE(CAST(:collection AS collection_type))'
INTO l_count
USING l_collection
;
I'm not sure if there's some other reason you want to use dynamic SQL, or if you're just assuming that it's necessary in this case. It shouldn't be necessary if all you want to do is select the count. This inline SQL should work fine:
SELECT COUNT(*) INTO l_count FROM TABLE(CAST(l_collection AS collection_type));
Of course, if that's all you want you don't need SQL at all, just l_count := l_collection.COUNT.
Edit -- adding fully worked out example
CREATE OR REPLACE TYPE testtype AS OBJECT( x NUMBER, y NUMBER);
/
CREATE OR REPLACE TYPE testtypetab AS TABLE OF testtype;
/
DECLARE
t testtypetab := testtypetab();
l_count integer;
BEGIN
-- Populate the collection with some data
SELECT testtype(LEVEL, LEVEL) BULK COLLECT INTO t FROM dual CONNECT BY LEVEL<21;
-- Show that we can query it using inline SQL
SELECT count(*) INTO l_count FROM TABLE(CAST(t AS testtypetab));
dbms_output.put_line( l_count );
-- Clear the collection
t.DELETE;
-- Show that we can query it using dynamic SQL
EXECUTE IMMEDIATE 'select count(*) from table(cast(:collection as testtypetab))'
into l_count using t;
dbms_output.put_line( l_count );
END;
/

Related

How to make a function that takes code like "SELECT * FROM SOME_TABLE" as an input and returns a table as an output?

I want to create a function that takes some code as an input (e.g. Select * FROM SOME_TABLE) and returns the result of a query as an output.
I want to use it in procedures in order to return tables as a result.
It should look like this:
BEGIN
--some procedure code
CREATE TABLE SOME_TABLE as Select * FROM ...;
Select * FROM table(my_function('Select * FROM SOME_TABLE'));
END;
Important tips:
The resulting table can have multiple columns, from 1 to +inft
The resulting table can have multiple rows, from 1 to +inft
So the size of a table can be both very small or very large.
The input query can have several where, having, partition, and other Oracle constructions.
I want to have a table as an output, not DBMS_OUTPUT.
I can't install any modules/applications, or use other languages hints. However, I can manually create types, functions, procedures.
I tried to search in the net but could not find a solution that meets all my expectations. The best link I've found was this:
https://sqljana.wordpress.com/2017/01/22/oracle-return-select-statement-results-like-sql-server-sps-using-pipelined-functions/
DBMS_SQL.RETURN_RESULT works if your "code" is a select query
DECLARE
l_cur SYS_REFCURSOR;
l_query VARCHAR2(4000) := 'select * from SOME_TABLE';
BEGIN
OPEN l_cur for l_query;
DBMS_SQL.RETURN_RESULT(l_cur);
END;
/
you can create a function that has a string as parameter and return a cursor.
select statement you should pass as a string. in a function you can open a Cursor.
declare
v_sql varchar2(100) := 'select 1,2,3,4,5 from dual';
cur_ref SYS_REFCURSOR;
function get_data(in_sql in varchar2) return SYS_REFCURSOR
as
cur_ret SYS_REFCURSOR;
begin
OPEN cur_ret FOR in_sql;
return cur_ret;
end;
begin
:cur_ref := get_data(v_sql);
end ;
if your select statement is longer than 32K than you maybe should use a clob instead of varchar2 for your Parameter type. But you have to try that

variable as column name in where clause in Oracle PL/SQL

I am working on PL/SQL code where I need to perform a select query using variable as column name in where clause. Column names are stored in a table as varchar and I am using a loop to pass those column names to my select statement.
Please find sample code segment I am trying to run:
set serveroutput on;
declare
var varchar2(100);
counter number;
begin
var:='description';
select count(*)
into counter
from nodetable
where var like '%Ship%';
dbms_output.put_line(counter);
end;
Output:
anonymous block completed
0
However the result should be 86.
Oracle is comparing last condition as two string and not column=string.
Please let me know if this is even feasible in oracle or if there is a workaround for it.
Regards
Ankit
You have to use dynamic SQL, preferrably with bind-variables:
EXECUTE IMMEDIATE
'select count(*) from nodetable where '||var||' like :p1'
INTO counter
USING '%Ship%';
Try this
declare
var varchar2(100);
counter number;
begin
var:='description';
EXECUTE IMMEDIATE
'select count(*)
into counter
from nodetable
where '||var||' like ''%Ship%'' ';
dbms_output.put_line(counter);
end;
You need to be carefull with the colon's (').
I agreed with previous answer in implementation, but i strictly recommend you to change your technical requirements, because you can't use bind variables for this, and it's potential place for injection. For example, if someone will edit value in your table which stores column names, to something like that: "description = inject_function or description". Then your dynamic sql block will execute this statement:
select count(*) from nodetable where description = inject_function or description like '%Ship%
and example implementation of function
create function inject_function
return varchar2
is pragma autonomous_transaction;
begin
delete * from most_important_table;
commit;
return to_char(null);
exception when others then
rollback;
return to_char(null);
end;

how to use array as bind variable

I have following array, which will be populated based on some external criteria.
TYPE t_column IS TABLE OF TABLE_1.COLUMN_1%TYPE INDEX BY PLS_INTEGER;
ar_column t_column;
Now, I want to use this ar_column into another cursor, how can i bind it ?
I am looking at something like select * from table1 where column in (ar_colum[0],ar_colum[1] ...); (its a pseudo code)
Using PL/SQL collections in SQL statements requires a few extra steps. The data type must be created, not simply declared as part of a PL/SQL block. Associative arrays do no exist in SQL and must be converted into a nested table or varray at some point. And the TABLE operator must be used to convert the data.
create table table1(column_1 number);
insert into table1 values (1);
commit;
create or replace type number_nt is table of number;
declare
ar_column number_nt := number_nt();
v_count number;
begin
ar_column.extend; ar_column(ar_column.last) := 1;
ar_column.extend; ar_column(ar_column.last) := 2;
select count(*)
into v_count
from table1
where column_1 in (select * from table(ar_column));
dbms_output.put_line('Count: '||v_count);
end;
/
Count: 1

PL/SQL Dynamic Loop Value

My goal is to keep a table which contains bind values and arguments, which will later be used by dbms_sql. The below pl/sql example is basic, it's purpose is to illustrate the issue I am having with recalling values from prior loop objects.
The table account_table holds acccount information
CREATE TABLE account_table (account number, name varchar2(100)));
INSERT INTO mytest
(account, name)
VALUES
(1 ,'Test');
COMMIT;
The table MYTEST holds bind information
CREATE TABLE mytest (bind_value varchar2(100));
INSERT INTO mytest (bind_value) VALUES ('i.account');
COMMIT;
DECLARE
v_sql VARCHAR2(4000) := NULL;
v_ret VARCHAR2(4000) := NULL;
BEGIN
FOR I IN (
SELECT account
FROM account_table
WHERE ROWNUM = 1
) LOOP
FOR REC IN (
SELECT *
FROM mytest
) LOOP
v_sql := 'SELECT ' || rec.bind_value || ' FROM dual';
EXECUTE IMMEDIATE v_sql INTO v_ret;
dbms_output.put_line ('Account: ' || v_ret);
END LOOP;
END LOOP;
END;
/
I cannot store the name i.account and later use the value that object. My idea was to use NDS; but, while the value of v_sql looks ok (it will read "Select i.account from dual"), an exception of invalid identifier would be raised on i.account. Is there a way to get the value of the object? We are using Oracle 11g2.
Thanks!
Dynamic SQL will not have the context of your PL/SQL block. You cannot use identifiers that are defined in the PL/SQL block in your dynamic SQL statement. So you cannot reference i.account and reference the loop that you have defined outside of the dynamic SQL statement. You could, of course, dynamically generate the entire PL/SQL block but dynamic PL/SQL is generally a pretty terrible approach-- it is very hard to get that sort of thing right.
If you are trying to use the value of i.account, however, you can do something like
v_sql := 'SELECT :1 FROM dual';
EXECUTE IMMEDIATE v_sql
INTO v_ret
USING i.account;
That doesn't appear to help you, though, if you want to get the string i.account from a table.
Are you always trying to access the same table with the same where clause, but just looking for a different column each time? If so, you could do this:
p_what_I_want := 'ACCOUNT';
--
SELECT decode(p_what_I_want
,'ACCOUNT', i.account
, 'OTHER_THING_1', i.other_thing_1
, 'OTHER_THING_2', i.other_thing_2
, 'OTHER_THING_1', i.default_thing) out_thing
INTO l_thing
FROM table;
The above statement is not dynamic but returns a different column on demand...

How to use an Oracle Associative Array in a SQL query

ODP.Net exposes the ability to pass Associative Arrays as params into an Oracle stored procedure from C#. Its a nice feature unless you are trying to use the data contained within that associative array in a sql query.
The reason for this is that it requires a context switch - SQL statements require SQL types and an associative array passed into PL/SQL like this is actually defined as a PL/SQL type. I believe any types defined within a PL/SQL package/procedure/function are PL/SQL types while a type created outside these objects is a SQL type (if you can provide more clarity on that, please do but its not the goal of this question).
So, the question is, what are the methods you would use to convert the PL/SQL associative array param into something that within the procedure can be used in a sql statement like this:
OPEN refCursor FOR
SELECT T.*
FROM SOME_TABLE T,
( SELECT COLUMN_VALUE V
FROM TABLE( associativeArray )
) T2
WHERE T.NAME = T2.V;
For the purposes of this example, the "associativeArray" is a simple table of varchar2(200) indexed by PLS_INTEGER. In C#, the associativeArry param is populated with a string[].
Feel free to discuss other ways of doing this besides using an associative array but know ahead of time those solutions will not be accepted. Still, I'm interested in seeing other options.
I would create a database type like this:
create type v2t as table of varchar2(30);
/
And then in the procedure:
FOR i IN 1..associativeArray.COUNT LOOP
databaseArray.extend(1);
databaseArray(i) := associativeArray(i);
END LOOP;
OPEN refCursor FOR
SELECT T.*
FROM SOME_TABLE T,
( SELECT COLUMN_VALUE V
FROM TABLE( databaseArray )
) T2
WHERE T.NAME = T2.V;
(where databaseArray is declared to be of type v2t.)
You cannot use associative arrays in the SQL scope - they are only usable in the PL/SQL scope.
One method is to map the associative array to a collection (which can be used in the SQL scope if the collection type has been defined in the SQL scope and not the PL/SQL scope).
SQL:
CREATE TYPE VARCHAR2_200_Array_Type AS TABLE OF VARCHAR2(200);
/
PL/SQL
DECLARE
TYPE associativeArrayType IS TABLE OF VARCHAR2(200) INDEX BY PLS_INTEGER;
i PLS_INTEGER;
associativeArray associativeArrayType;
array VARCHAR2_200_Array_Type;
cur SYS_REFCURSOR;
BEGIN
-- Sample data in the (sparse) associative array
associativeArray(-2) := 'Test 1';
associativeArray(0) := 'Test 2';
associativeArray(7) := 'Test 3';
-- Initialise the collection
array := VARCHAR2_200_Array_Type();
-- Loop through the associative array
i := associativeArray.FIRST;
WHILE i IS NOT NULL LOOP
array.EXTEND(1);
array(array.COUNT) := associativeArray(i);
i := associativeArray.NEXT(i);
END LOOP;
-- Use the collection in a query
OPEN cur FOR
SELECT *
FROM your_table
WHERE your_column MEMBER OF array;
END;
/