INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

MODULE 11: Writing Executable Statements

 MODULE 11

WRITING EXECUTABLE
STATEMENTS
 MODULE 11

OBJECTIVES

■At the end of the chapter, the learner should be able to:
• Recognize valid and invalid identifiers
• List the uses of variables
• Declare and initialize variables
• List and describe various data types
• Identify the benefits of using the %TYPE attribute
• Declare, use, and print bind variables
 MODULE 11

OBJECTIVES

■At the end of the chapter, the learner should be able to:
• Identify lexical units in a PL/SQL block
• Use built-in SQL functions in PL/SQL
• Describe when implicit conversions take place and when explicit
conversions have to be dealt with
• Write nested blocks and qualify variables with labels
• Write readable code with appropriate indentation
• Use sequences in PL/SQL expressions
Variables can be used for:
• Temporary storage of data
• Manipulation of stored values
• Reusability

SELECT
first_name,
department_id
INTO Jennifer v_fname
v_fname,
v_deptno
FROM …
10 v_deptno
A variable name:
• Must start with a letter
• Can include letters or numbers
• Can include special characters (such as $, _, and # )
• Must contain no more than 30 characters
• Must not include reserved words
Variables are:
• Declared and initialized in the declarative section
• Used and assigned new values in the executable section
• Passed as parameters to PL/SQL subprograms
• Used to hold the output of a PL/SQL subprogram
Syntax:
identifier [CONSTANT] datatype [NOT NULL]
[:= | DEFAULT expr];

Examples:

DECLARE
v_hiredate DATE;
v_deptno NUMBER(2) NOT NULL := 10;
v_location VARCHAR2(13) := 'Atlanta';
c_comm CONSTANT NUMBER := 1400;
 DECLARE
v_myName VARCHAR2(20);
1 BEGIN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('My name is: '|| v_myName);
v_myName := 'John';
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('My name is: '|| v_myName);
END;
/

DECLARE
v_myName VARCHAR2(20):= 'John';
2 BEGIN
v_myName := 'Steven';
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('My name is: '|| v_myName);
END;
/
DECLARE
v_event VARCHAR2(15);
BEGIN
v_event := q'!Father's day!';
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('3rd Sunday in June is :
'|| v_event );
v_event := q'[Mother's day]';
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('2nd Sunday in May is :
'|| v_event );
END;
/
• PL/SQL variables:
• Scalar
• Composite
• Reference
• Large object (LOB)
• Non-PL/SQL variables: Bind variables
 25-JAN-01
TRUE
Snow White
Long, long ago,
in a land far, far away,
there lived a princess called
Snow White. . .

256120.08 Atlanta
• Follow naming conventions.
• Use meaningful identifiers for variables.
• Initialize variables designated as NOT NULL and
CONSTANT.
• Initialize variables with the assignment operator (:=) or
the DEFAULT keyword:

v_myName VARCHAR2(20):='John';
v_myName VARCHAR2(20) DEFAULT 'John';

• Declare one identifier per line for better readability and

code maintenance.
• Avoid using column names as identifiers.

DECLARE
employee_id NUMBER(6);
BEGIN
SELECT employee_id
INTO employee_id
FROM employees
WHERE last_name = 'Kochhar';
END;
/

• Use the NOT NULL constraint when the variable must hold a value.
• Hold a single value
• Have no internal components

TRUE 25-JAN-01

The soul of the lazy man

desires, and he has nothing;
but the soul of the diligent
shall be made rich.

256120.08 Atlanta
• CHAR [(maximum_length)]
• VARCHAR2 (maximum_length)
• NUMBER [(precision, scale)]
• BINARY_INTEGER
• PLS_INTEGER
• BOOLEAN
• BINARY_FLOAT
• BINARY_DOUBLE
• DATE
• TIMESTAMP
• TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE
• TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE
• INTERVAL YEAR TO MONTH
• INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND
Examples:
DECLARE
v_emp_job VARCHAR2(9);
v_count_loop BINARY_INTEGER := 0;
v_dept_total_sal NUMBER(9,2) := 0;
v_orderdate DATE := SYSDATE + 7;
c_tax_rate CONSTANT NUMBER(3,2) := 8.25;
v_valid BOOLEAN NOT NULL := TRUE;
...
• Is used to declare a variable according to:
• A database column definition
• Another declared variable
• Is prefixed with:
• The database table and column names
• The name of the declared variable
Syntax
identifier table.column_name%TYPE;

Examples
...
emp_lname employees.last_name%TYPE;
...

...
balance NUMBER(7,2);
min_balance balance%TYPE := 1000;
...
• Only the TRUE, FALSE, and NULL values can be
assigned to a Boolean variable.
• Conditional expressions use the logical operators
AND and OR and the unary operator NOT to
check the variable values.
• The variables always yield TRUE, FALSE, or
NULL.
• Arithmetic, character, and date expressions can
be used to return a Boolean value.
Bind variables are:
• Created in the environment
• Also called host variables
• Created with the VARIABLE keyword
• Used in SQL statements and PL/SQL blocks
• Accessed even after the PL/SQL block is executed
• Referenced with a preceding colon
Examples
VARIABLE b_emp_salary NUMBER
BEGIN
SELECT salary INTO :b_emp_salary
FROM employees WHERE employee_id = 178;
END;
/
PRINT b_emp_salary
SELECT first_name, last_name FROM employees
WHERE salary=:b_emp_salary;
Example
VARIABLE b_emp_salary NUMBER
SET AUTOPRINT ON
DECLARE
v_empno NUMBER(6):=&empno;
BEGIN
SELECT salary INTO :b_emp_salary
FROM employees WHERE employee_id = v_empno;
END;

Output:
7000
 Book
(CLOB)

Photo
(BLOB)

Movie
(BFILE)

NCLOB
TRUE 23-DEC-98 ATLANTA

PL/SQL table structure PL/SQL table structure

1 SMITH 1 5000
2 JONES 2 2345
3 NANCY 3 12
4 TIM 4 3456

VARCHAR2 NUMBER
PLS_INTEGER PLS_INTEGER
Lexical units:
• Are building blocks of any PL/SQL block
• Are sequences of characters including letters, numerals,
tabs, spaces, returns, and symbols
• Can be classified as:
• Identifiers: v_fname, c_percent
• Delimiters: ; , +, -
• Literals: John, 428, True
• Comments: --, /* */
• Literals
• Character and date literals must be enclosed in single quotation marks.
• Numbers can be simple values or in scientific notation.

name := 'Henderson';

• Statements can span several lines.

1 2

3
• Prefix single-line comments with two hyphens (--).
• Place multiple-line comments between the symbols /* and */.
• Example:

DECLARE
...
v_annual_sal NUMBER (9,2);
BEGIN
/* Compute the annual salary based on the
monthly salary input from the user */
v_annual_sal := monthly_sal * 12;
--The following line displays the annual salary
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(v_annual_sal);
END;
/
• Available in procedural statements:
• Single-row functions
• Not available in procedural statements:
• DECODE
• Group functions
• Get the length of a string:
v_desc_size INTEGER(5);
v_prod_description VARCHAR2(70):='You can use this
product with your radios for higher frequency';

-- get the length of the string in prod_description

v_desc_size:= LENGTH(v_prod_description);

• Get the number of months an employee has worked:

v_tenure:= MONTHS_BETWEEN (CURRENT_DATE, v_hiredate);

Starting in 11g:
DECLARE
v_new_id NUMBER;
BEGIN
v_new_id := my_seq.NEXTVAL;
END;
/

Before 11g:
DECLARE
v_new_id NUMBER;
BEGIN
SELECT my_seq.NEXTVAL INTO v_new_id FROM Dual;
END;
/
 • Converts data to comparable data types
• Is of two types:
• Implicit conversion
• Explicit conversion
• Functions:
• TO_CHAR
• TO_DATE
• TO_NUMBER
• TO_TIMESTAMP
1 date_of_joining DATE:= '02-Feb-2000';

2 date_of_joining DATE:= 'February 02,2000';

date_of_joining DATE:= TO_DATE('February

3 02,2000','Month DD, YYYY');
PL/SQL blocks can be nested.
• An executable section (BEGIN … END) can contain nested blocks.
• An exception section can contain
nested blocks.
DECLARE
v_outer_variable VARCHAR2(20):='GLOBAL VARIABLE';
BEGIN
DECLARE
v_inner_variable VARCHAR2(20):='LOCAL VARIABLE';
BEGIN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(v_inner_variable);
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(v_outer_variable);
END;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(v_outer_variable);
END;
 DECLARE
v_father_name VARCHAR2(20):='Patrick';
v_date_of_birth DATE:='20-Apr-1972';
BEGIN
DECLARE
v_child_name VARCHAR2(20):='Mike';
v_date_of_birth DATE:='12-Dec-2002';
BEGIN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Father''s Name: '||v_father_name);
1 DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Date of Birth: '||v_date_of_birth);
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Child''s Name: '||v_child_name);
END;
2 DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Date of Birth: '||v_date_of_birth);
END;
/
BEGIN <<outer>>
DECLARE
v_father_name VARCHAR2(20):='Patrick';
v_date_of_birth DATE:='20-Apr-1972';
BEGIN
DECLARE
v_child_name VARCHAR2(20):='Mike';
v_date_of_birth DATE:='12-Dec-2002';
BEGIN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Father''s Name: '||v_father_name);
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Date of Birth: '
||outer.v_date_of_birth);
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Child''s Name: '||v_child_name);
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Date of Birth: '||v_date_of_birth);
END;
END;
END outer;
 BEGIN <<outer>>
DECLARE
v_sal NUMBER(7,2) := 60000;
v_comm NUMBER(7,2) := v_sal * 0.20;
v_message VARCHAR2(255) := ' eligible for commission';
BEGIN
DECLARE
v_sal NUMBER(7,2) := 50000;
v_comm NUMBER(7,2) := 0;
v_total_comp NUMBER(7,2) := v_sal + v_comm;
BEGIN
v_message := 'CLERK not'||v_message;
1 outer.v_comm := v_sal * 0.30;
END;
v_message := 'SALESMAN'||v_message;
2 END;
END outer;
/
•Logical
•Arithmetic
•Concatenation
•Parentheses to control order
of operations

•Exponential operator (**)

 • Increment the counter for a loop.

loop_count := loop_count + 1;
• Set the value of a Boolean flag.

good_sal := sal BETWEEN 50000 AND 150000;

• Validate whether an employee number contains a value.

valid := (empno IS NOT NULL);
Make code maintenance easier by:
• Documenting code with comments
• Developing a case convention for the code
• Developing naming conventions for identifiers and other objects
• Enhancing readability by indenting
For clarity, indent each level of code.
BEGIN DECLARE
IF x=0 THEN deptno NUMBER(4);
y:=1; location_id NUMBER(4);
END IF; BEGIN
END; SELECT department_id,
/ location_id
INTO deptno,
location_id
FROM departments
WHERE department_name
= 'Sales';
...
END;
/
END OF MODULE 11
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• Jukic, Nenad.(2017). Database systems : introduction to databases and data warehouses. Burlington, MA: Prospect Press
• Susan Vrbsky(2016). Database Systems: Introduction to Databases and Data Warehouses. USA: Prospect Press
• Foster, Elvis C.(2016). Database systems : : a pragmatic approach. New York: Apress
• Shripad Godbole(2016). Database Systems: A Pragmatic Approach. USA: Apress
• Coronel, C. (2015). Database Systems: Design, Implementation, and Management. Australia: Cengage Learning.
• McCue, C. (2015). Data Mining and Predictive Analysis: Intelligence Gathering and Crime Analysis. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
• Wiley, J. (2015). Data science & Big Data Analytics: Discovering, Analyzing, Visualizing, & Presenting Data. Indianapolis, Indiana: John Wiley
Sons, Incorporated.
• Nong, Y. (2014). Data Mining: Theories, Algorithms, and Examples. Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis.
• Zaki, M. J. (2014). Data Mining & Analysis: Fundamental Concepts & Algorithms. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
• Gupta, S. (2012). Oracle Advanced PL/SQL Developer Professional Guide. Bingmingham-Mumbai: PACKT Pub.
• Serhal, L. (2009). Oracle Database 11g: Develop PL/SQL Program Units, Vol. 1 Student Guide. Oracle Acaddemy.
• Srivastava, T. (2009). Oracle Database 11g: PL/SQL Fundamentals, Student Guide. Oracle Oracle Academy.
• Price, J. (2008). Oracle Database 11g SQL: Master SQL and PL/SQL in the Oracle Database. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc

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