Composite Datatypes
• Types:
– PL/SQL RECORDS
– PL/SQL TABLES
• Contain internal components
• Are reusable
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PL/SQL Records
• Must contain one or more components of
any scalar, RECORD, or PL/SQL TABLE
datatype, called fields
• Are similar in structure to records in a 3GL
• Are not the same as rows in a database
table
• Treat a collection of fields as a logical unit
• Are convenient for fetching a row of data
from a table for processing
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Creating a PL/SQL Record
Syntax
TYPE type_name IS RECORD
(field_declaration[, field_declaration]…);
identifier type_name;
Where field_declaration is
field_name {field_type | variable%TYPE
| table.column%TYPE | table%ROWTYPE}
[[NOT NULL] {:= | DEFAULT} expr]
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Creating a PL/SQL Record
Declare variables to store the name, job,
and salary of a new employee.
Example
...
TYPE emp_record_type IS RECORD
(ename VARCHAR2(10),
job VARCHAR2(9),
sal NUMBER(7,2));
emp_record emp_record_type;
...
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PL/SQL Record Structure
Field1 (datatype) Field2 (datatype) Field3 (datatype)
Example
Field1 (datatype) Field2 (datatype) Field3 (datatype)
empno number(4) ename varchar2(10) job varchar2(9)
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The %ROWTYPE Attribute
• Declare a variable according to a
collection of columns in a database
table or view.
• Prefix %ROWTYPE with the database
table.
• Fields in the record take their names
and datatypes from the columns of the
table or view.
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Advantages of Using
%ROWTYPE
• The number and datatypes of the
underlying database columns may not
be known.
• The number and datatypes of the
underlying database column may
change at runtime.
• The attribute is useful when retrieving a
row with the SELECT statement.
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The %ROWTYPE Attribute
Examples
Declare a variable to store the same
information about a department as it is
stored in the DEPT table.
dept_record dept%ROWTYPE;
Declare a variable to store the same
information about an employee as it is
stored in the EMP table.
emp_record emp%ROWTYPE;
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PL/SQL Tables
• Are composed of two components:
– Primary key of datatype
BINARY_INTEGER
– Column of scalar or record datatype
• Increase dynamically because they are
unconstrained
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Creating a PL/SQL Table
Syntax
TYPE type_name IS TABLE OF
{column_type | variable%TYPE
| table.column%TYPE} [NOT NULL]
[INDEX BY BINARY_INTEGER];
identifier type_name;
Declare a PL/SQL variable to store a name.
Example
...
TYPE ename_table_type IS TABLE OF emp.ename%TYPE
INDEX BY BINARY_INTEGER;
ename_table ename_table_type;
...
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PL/SQL Table Structure
Primary key Column
... ...
1 Jones
2 Smith
3 Maduro
... ...
BINARY_INTEGER Scalar
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Creating a PL/SQL Table
DECLARE
TYPE ename_table_type IS TABLE OF emp.ename%TYPE
INDEX BY BINARY_INTEGER;
TYPE hiredate_table_type IS TABLE OF DATE
INDEX BY BINARY_INTEGER;
ename_table ename_table_type;
hiredate_table hiredate_table_type;
BEGIN
ename_table(1) := 'CAMERON';
hiredate_table(8) := SYSDATE + 7;
IF ename_table.EXISTS(1) THEN
INSERT INTO ...
...
END;
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Using PL/SQL Table Methods
The following methods make PL/SQL
tables easier to use:
• EXISTS • NEXT
• COUNT • EXTEND
• FIRST and LAST • TRIM
• PRIOR • DELETE
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PL/SQL Table of Records
• Define a TABLE variable with the
%ROWTYPE attribute.
• Declare a PL/SQL variable to hold
department information.
Example
DECLARE
TYPE dept_table_type IS TABLE OF dept%ROWTYPE
INDEX BY BINARY_INTEGER;
dept_table dept_table_type;
-- Each element of dept_table is a record
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