Oracle PL/SQL Language : Pocket Reference

This pocket guide features quick-reference information to help you use Oracle's PL/SQL language. It includes coverage of PL/SQL features in the newest version of Oracle, Oracle8i. It is a companion to Steven Feuerstein and Bill Pribyl's bestselling Oracle PL/SQL Programming . Updated for Oracle8, that large volume (nearly 1,000 pages) fills a huge gap in the Oracle market, providing developers with a single, comprehensive guide to building applications with PL/SQL -- and building them the right way. It has become the bible for PL/SQL developers, who have raved about its completeness, readability, and practicality. This pocket reference boils down the most vital information from Oracle PL/SQL Programming into an accessible quick reference that summarizes the basics of PL/SQL: its block structure, fundamental language elements (e.g., identifiers, declarations, defaults), data structures (including Oracle8 objects), and statements for program control, loops, exception handling, and database access. It also covers the the basics of using Oracle's procedures, functions, and packages. This pocket reference provides quick-reference information that will help you use Oracle's PL/SQL language. It is a companion to Steven Feuerstein and Bill Pribyl's bestselling book, Oracle PL/SQL Programming , and includes coverage of the latest version of Oracle, Oracle8i.Oracle is the most popular database management system in use today, and PL/SQL plays a pivotal role in current and projected Oracle products and applications. PL/SQL provides procedural extensions to the SQL relational database language and to an ever-growing number of Oracle development tools. It offers a myriad of data types, and such features as cursors, loops, conditional and sequential control statements, exception handlers, records, tables, and constructs for developing modular code (functions, procedures, and packages). Originally a rather limited tool, PL/SQL became with Oracle7 a mature and effective language for developers. Now, with the introduction of Oracle8, PL/SQL has taken the next step towards becoming a fully realized programming language providing sophisticated object-oriented capabilities.The book on which this pocket reference is based, Oracle PL/SQL Programming , filled a huge gap in the Oracle market, providing developers with a single, comprehensive guide to building applications with PL/SQL -- and building them the right way. That book has become the bible for PL/SQL developers who have raved about its completeness, readability, and practicality. The book is packed with strategies, code architectures, tips, techniques, and fully realized code. The second edition of the book updated the text with the new Oracle8 PL/SQL features, including object types, collections, external procedures, and large object data types and functions.The pocket reference boils down the most vital information from the large (nearly 1000 pages) book into an accessible quick reference that summarizes the basics of PL/SQL -- its block structure, fundamental language elements (e.g., identifiers, declarations, defaults), data structures (including Oracle8 objects), and statements for program control, loops, exception handling, and database access. It also covers the the basics of using Oracle's procedures, functions, and packages, and the latest features for Oracle8i.

This pocket reference provides quick-reference information that will help you use Oracle's PL/SQL language. It is a companion to Steven Feuerstein and Bill Pribyl's bestselling book, Oracle PL/SQL Programming.

Oracle is the most popular database management system in use today, and PL/SQL plays a pivotal role in current and projected Oracle products and applications. PL/SQL provides procedural extensions to the SQL relational database language and to an ever-growing number of Oracle development tools. It offers a myriad of data types, and such features as cursors, loops, conditional and sequential control statements, exception handlers, records, tables, and constructs for developing modular code (functions, procedures, and packages). Originally a rather limited tool, PL/SQL became with Oracle7 a mature and effective language for developers. Now, with the introduction of Oracle8, PL/SQL has taken the next step towards becoming a fully realized programming language providing sophisticated object-oriented capabilities.

The book on which this pocket reference is based, Oracle PL/SQL Programming, filled a huge gap in the Oracle market, providing developers with a single, comprehensive guide to building applications with PL/SQL -- and building them the right way. That book has become the bible for PL/SQL developers who have raved about its completeness, readability, and practicality. The book is packed with strategies, code architectures, tips, techniques, and fully realized code. The second edition of the book updated the text with the new Oracle8 PL/SQL features, including object types, collections, external procedures, and large object data types and functions.

The pocket reference boils down the most vital information from the large (nearly 1000 pages) book into an accessible quick reference that summarizes the basics of PL/SQL -- its block structure, fundamental language elements (e.g., identifiers, declarations, defaults), data structures (including Oracle8 objects), and statements for program control, loops, exception handling, and database access. It also covers the the basics of using Oracle's procedures, functions, and packages.

Table of Contents......Page 2 BookmarkTitle:......Page 4 1.1 Introduction......Page 5 1.2 Acknowledgments......Page 6 1.3 Conventions......Page 7 1.4.1 The PL/SQL Character Set......Page 8 1.5.1 Scalar Datatypes......Page 13 1.5.4 NULLs in PL/SQL......Page 16 1.5.6 Anchored Declarations......Page 17 1.5.7 Programmer-Defined Subtypes......Page 18 1.6.1 Conditional Control Statements......Page 20 1.6.2 Sequential Control Statements......Page 21 1.7.2 The Numeric FOR Loop......Page 22 1.7.5 The REPEAT UNTIL Loop Emulation......Page 23 1.7.7 Loop Labels......Page 24 1.8.1 Transaction Management......Page 25 1.8.2 Native Dynamic SQL (Oracle8i)......Page 26 1.8.3 Autonomous Transactions (Oracle8i)......Page 27 1.9.1 Explicit Cursors......Page 29 1.9.2 Implicit Cursors......Page 31 1.9.3 Cursor Variables......Page 33 1.10.1 Declaring Exceptions......Page 35 1.10.2 Raising Exceptions......Page 36 1.10.4 Propagation......Page 37 1.11.1 Declaring Records......Page 39 1.11.3 Record Assignment......Page 40 1.11.4 Nested Records......Page 41 1.12.2 Functions......Page 42 1.12.3 Parameters......Page 44 1.13.1 Creating Triggers......Page 49 1.13.2 Trigger Predicates......Page 50 1.13.5 Database Events (Oracle8i)......Page 51 1.14.1 Overview of Package Structure......Page 52 1.14.2 Referencing Package Elements......Page 53 1.14.4 Package Initialization......Page 54 1.15.2 Requirements and Restrictions on Stored Functions in SQL......Page 56 1.15.3 Calling Packaged Functions in SQL......Page 57 1.16.1 Object Types......Page 59 1.16.2 Methods......Page 60 1.16.3 Manipulating Objects in PL/SQL and SQL......Page 61 1.16.4 Changing Object Types......Page 63 1.17 Collections......Page 65 1.17.2 Initializing Collections......Page 66 1.17.3 Adding and Removing Elements......Page 67 1.17.5 Collection Methods......Page 68 1.17.7 Bulk Binds (Oracle8i)......Page 70 1.18.1 Creating an External Procedure......Page 72 1.18.2 Parameters......Page 74 1.19.1 Example......Page 76 1.19.2 Publishing Java to PL/SQL......Page 77 1.19.3 Data Dictionary......Page 78 Table of Contents......Page 79 "The new edition describes such Oracle Database 11g elements as PL/SQL's function result cache, compound triggers, the CONTINUE statement, the SIMPLE_INTEGER datatype, and improvements to native compilation, regular expressions, and compiler optimization (including intra-unit inlining). In addition, this book now includes substantial new sections on Oracle's built-in functions and packages"--Cover. This pocket reference condenses the most vital information from Oracle PL/SQL programming into an accessible quick reference that summarizes the basics of PL/SQL - block structure, fundamental language elements, data structures, control statements, and use of procedures, functions and packages.