PL/SQL

PL/SQL

PL/SQL is an extension to the SQL language that allows you to almost write a program using SQL and other statements. PL/SQL is a block structured language that consists of a

DECLARE (declarations)

BEGIN

(statements)

EXCEPTION (handling)

END

One way to think of PL/SQL is to imagine a good old fashioned programming language like COBOL or BASIC. Where you can define variables and the flow of the program depends on certain conditions and what to do in the unlikely event of an error. Now imagine taking that program and storing it inside the database. Then to execute the program you call it from any application. PL/SQL is an incredibly powerful language, which Oracle applications use extensively.

The benefits of using PL/SQL are:


	?	supports SQL;


	?	improved performance;


	?	higher productivity;


	?	support for object-oriented programming;


	?	integration with Oracle applications.

Probably the best way to learn about PL/SQL is to work through an example. What has been written here merely skims the surface of what is possible in PL/SQL. The goal of this section is to give you an appreciation of what it can do. To find out more, please refer to the PL/SQL manuals.

Displaying Results

When a query is executed outside of PL/SQL, the contents of the rows are automatically displayed, but this is not the case in PL/SQL. In order to see the contents of a row, a package called DBMS_OUTPUT must be used, which displays the results...

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