INTRODUCTION

PL/SQL
• PL/SQL is Oracle's procedural language
extension to SQL, the non-procedural relational
database language.

• With PL/SQL, you can use SQL statements to

manipulate ORACLE data and the flow of
control statements to process the data.
Moreover, you can declare constants and
variables, define subprograms (procedures and
functions), and trap runtime errors. Thus,
PL/SQL combines the data manipulating power
of SQL with the data processing power of
procedural languages.
What is PL/SQL?

PL/SQL is a Procedural Language extension of Structured Query

Language (SQL).

PL/SQL is an extension of Structured Query Language (SQL) that is used

in Oracle. Unlike SQL, PL/SQL allows the programmer to write code in a
procedural format.

PL/SQL (Procedural Language/Structured Query Language) program

executes on Oracle database.

PL/SQL is specially designed for Database oriented activities. Oracle

PL/SQL allows you to perform data manipulation operation those are safe
and flexible.
 PL/SQL
 It combines the data manipulation power of SQL
with the processing power of procedural language
to create super powerful SQL queries
 While PL/SQL is just like any other programming
language, it has syntax and rules that determine
how programming statements work together. It is
important for you to realize that PL/SQL is not a
stand-alone programming language.
 PL/SQL is a part of the Oracle RDBMS, and it can
reside in two environments, the client and the
server.
 PL/SQL

• As a result, it is very easy to move PL/SQL

modules between server-side and client-side
applications.

• When the PL/SQL engine is located on the

server, the whole PL/SQL block is passed to
the PL/SQL engine on the Oracle server.
The PL/SQL engine processes the block according to the following Figure
Combines the flexibility of SQL (4GL) with the power
and configurability of the procedural constructs of a
3GL.

Extends SQL by adding 3GL constructs such as:

• Variables and types (predefined and user defined)

• Control Structures (IF-THEN-ELSE, Loops)
• Procedures and functions
• Object types and methods

PL/SQL based on language constructs

• Block Structure
• Error Handling
• Variables and Types
• Conditionals
• Looping Constructs
• Cursors
 PL/SQL

• When the PL/SQL engine is located on the

client, as it is in the Oracle Developer
Tools, the PL/SQL processing is done on
the client side.
• All SQL statements that are embedded
within the PL/SQL block are sent to the
Oracle server for further processing. When
PL/SQL block contains no SQL statement,
the entire block is executed on the client
side.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PL/SQL AND SQL
• When a SQL statement is issued on the client computer, the
request is made to the database on the server, and the result set
is sent back to the client.

• As a result, a single SQL statement causes two trips on the

network. If multiple SELECT statements are issued, the
network traffic increase significantly very fast. For example,
four SELECT statements cause eight network trips.

• If these statements are part of the PL/SQL block, they are sent
to the server as a single unit. The SQL statements in this
PL/SQL program are executed at the server and the result set is
sent back as a single unit. There is still only one network trip
made as is in case of a single SELECT statement.
Comparison of SQL*PLUS and PL/SQL
 Fundamentals of PL/SQL
• Full-featured programming language
• Interpreted language
• Execute using Oracle 10g utilities
– SQL*Plus
– Forms Builder
• Combines SQL queries with procedural commands
• Reserved words

11
 PL/SQL Program Blocks

• Comments:
– Not executed by interpreter
– Enclosed between /* and */
– On one line beginning with --

13
 PL/SQL BLOCKS
• PL/SQL blocks can be divided into two groups:
1. Named
2. Anonymous.
• Named blocks are used when creating subroutines. These
subroutines, are procedures, functions, and packages.
• The subroutines can be stored in the database and
referenced by their names later on.
• In addition, subroutines can be defined within the
anonymous PL/SQL block.
• Anonymous PL/SQL blocks do not have names. As a
result,they cannot be stored in the database and referenced
later.
 PL/SQL BLOCK STRUCTURE

• PL/SQL blocks contain three sections

1. Declare section
2. Executable section and
3. Exception-handling section.

• The executable section is the only mandatory

section of the block.
• Both the declaration and exception-handling
sections are optional.
 PL/SQL Arithmetic Operators in
describing Order of Precedence

• Parentheses are used to force PL/SQL interpreter

to evaluate operations in a certain order
total_hours_worked - 40 * over_time_rate

(total_hours_worked – 40) * over_time_rate

16
 Assignment Statements
DECLARE
variable1 NUMBER := 10;
variable2 NUMBER := 0;
• Assigns value to variable BEGIN
variable2 := variable1 +1;
• Operator: := END;

• Syntax: variable_name := value;

• String literal within single quotation mark
• Examples:
current_s_first_name := ‘Gautam’;
current_student_ID NUMBER := 100;
• Result of adding a value to a NULL value is another Q: What is the
NULL value final value of
variable2?
• DEFAULT keyword can be used instead of assignment
operator
17
 Displaying PL/SQL Program Output in
SQL*Plus

• PL/SQL output buffer

– Memory area on database server
– Stores program’s output values before they are displayed
to user
– Default buffer size is 2000 bytes
– Should increase size if you want to display more than a
few lines in SQL Plus to avoid buffer overflow error
– Syntax: SET SERVEROUTPUT ON SIZE buffer_size
– Example: SET SERVEROUTPUT ON SIZE 4000

18
 Displaying PL/SQL Program Output in
SQL*Plus

• DBMS_OUTPUT
– is an Oracle built-in package
– Consists of a set of programs for processing output
• PUT_LINE is the DBMS_OUTPUT procedure for displaying
output
– Syntax:
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('display_text');
– Example:
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(current_s_first);
– Displays maximum of 255 characters of text data
– If try to display more than 255 characters, error occurs
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 Writing a PL/SQL Program
• Write PL/SQL program in Notepad or
another text editor
• Indenting commands within each section is a good
programming practice.
• Copy and paste program commands from text
editor into SQL*Plus
• Press Enter after last program command
• Type front slash ( / )
• Then press Enter again
20
PL/SQL Program Commands

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 PL/SQL Data Conversion Functions
WHERE O_DATE = TO_DATE (‘29/05/2006’, ‘DD/MM/YYYY’)
• Implicit data conversions WHERE O_DATE = ‘29/05/2006’

– Interpreter automatically converts value from one data

type to another
– If PL/SQL interpreter unable to implicitly convert value
error occurs
• Explicit data conversions
– Convert variables to different data types
– Using data conversion functions

22
 Manipulating Character Strings

• Concatenating
– Joining two separate strings
– Operator: || (i.e. double bar)
– Syntax: new_string := string1 || string2;
– Example: s_fullname := s_first || s_last;
• Parse
– Separate single string consisting of two data items
separated by commas or spaces
s_fullname := s_first ||‘ ’|| s_last;

Variable Data type Value

Bldg_code VARCHAR2 LH room_message := bldg_code || ‘ Room ’ || room_num
|| ‘ has ’ || TO_CHAR(room_capacity) || ‘seats.’;
Room_num VARCHAR2 101
Room_capacity NUMBER 150 23
Question: Write down the value of room_message after the above Assignment statement is executed.
 Debugging PL/SQL Programs

• Syntax error
– Occurs when command does not follow
guidelines of programming language
– Generate compiler or interpreter error messages
• Logic error
– Does not stop program from running
– Results in incorrect result

24
Program with a Syntax Error

25
 Program with a Logic Error

• Which of the following is the source of the error?

– LENGTH(curr_course_no) – blank_space));
– SUBSTR(curr_course_no,
26 blank_space,
 PL/SQL BLOCK STRUCTURE

• PL/SQL block has the following structure:

DECLARE
Declaration statements
BEGIN
Executable statements
EXCETION
Exception-handling statements
END ;
 DECLARATION SECTION

• The declaration section is the first section of the

PL/SQL block.
• It contains definitions of PL/SQL identifiers such
as variables, constants, cursors and so on.
• Example

DECLARE
v_first_name VARCHAR2(35) ;
v_last_name VARCHAR2(35) ;
v_counter NUMBER := 0 ;
 EXECUTABLE SECTION
• The executable section is the next section of the
PL/SQL block.
• This section contains executable statements that
allow you to manipulate the variables that have
been declared in the declaration section.
BEGIN
SELECT first_name, last_name
INTO v_first_name, v_last_name
FROM student
WHERE student_id = 123 ;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE
(‘Student name :’ || v_first_name ||‘ ’||
v_last_name);
END;
 EXCEPTION-HANDLING SECTION

• The exception-handling section is the last section of

the PL/SQL block.
• This section contains statements that are executed
when a runtime error occurs within a block.
• Runtime errors occur while the program is running
and cannot be detected by the PL/SQL compiler.

EXCEPTION
WHEN NO_DATA_FOUND THEN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE
(‘ There is no student with student id 123 ’);
END;
 HOW PL/SQL GETS EXECUTED
• Every time an anonymous block is executed, the
code is sent to the PL/SQL engine on the server
where it is compiled.
• The named PL/SQL block is compiled only at the
time of its creation, or if it has been changed.
• The compilation process includes syntax checking,
binding and p-code generation.
• Syntax checking involves checking PL/SQL code for
syntax or compilation errors.
• Once the programmer corrects syntax errors, the
compiler can assign a storage address to program
variables that are used to hold data for Oracle. This
process is called Binding.
 HOW PL/SQL GETS EXECUTED

• After binding, p-code is generated for the PL/SQL

block.
• P-code is a list of instructions to the PL/SQL engine.
• For named blocks, p-code is stored in the database,
and it is used the next time the program is executed.
• Once the process of compilation has completed
successfully, the status for a named PL/SQL block is
set to VALID, and also stored in the database.
• If the compilation process was not successful, the
status for a named PL/SQL block is set to INVALID.
 PL/SQL IN SQL*PLUS

• SQL*Plus is an interactive tool that allows

you to type SQL or PL/SQL statements at the
command prompt.
• These statements are then sent to the database.
Once they are processed, the results are sent
back from the database and displayed on the
screen.
• There are some differences between entering
SQL and PL/SQL statements.
 SQL EXAMPLE
SELECT first_name, last_name
FROM student
WHERE student_id = 123;

• The semicolon terminates this SELECT

statement. Therefore, as soon as you type
semicolon and hit the ENTER key, the result
set is displayed to you.
PL/SQL EXAMPLE
DECLARE
v_first_name VARCHAR2(35);
v_last_name VARCHAR2(35);
BEGIN
SELECT first_name, last_name
INTO v_first_name, v_last_name
FROM student
WHERE student_id = 123;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE
('Student name: '||v_first_name||' '||v_last_name);
EXCEPTION
WHEN NO_DATA_FOUND THEN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE
('There is no student with student id 123');
END;
.
/
PL/SQL EXAMPLE
• There are two additional lines at the end of the block
containing “.” and “/”. The “.” marks the end of the
PL/SQL block and is optional.
• The “/” executes the PL/SQL block and is required.
• When SQL*Plus reads SQL statement, it knows that
the semicolon marks the end of the statement.
Therefore, the statement is complete and can be sent
to the database.
• When SQL*Plus reads a PL/SQL block, a semicolon
marks the end of the individual statement within the
block. In other words, it is not a block terminator.
PL/SQL EXAMPLE
• Therefore, SQL*Plus needs to know when the block
has ended. As you have seen in the example, it can
be done with period and forward slash.

.
/
 EXECUTING PL/SQL
 PL/SQL can be executed directly in
SQL*Plus.
 A PL/SQL program is normally saved with an
.sql extension.
 To execute an anonymous PL/SQL program,
simply type the following command at the
SQL prompt:
SQL> @DisplayAge
 GENERATING OUTPUT
• Like other programming languages, PL/SQL provides a
procedure (i.e. PUT_LINE) to allow the user to display the
output on the screen. For a user to able to view a result on the
screen, two steps are required.
• First, before executing any PL/SQL program, type the
following command at the SQL prompt
(Note: you need to type in this command only once for every
SQL*PLUS session):

SQL> SET SERVEROUTPUT ON;

or put the command at the beginning of the program, right
before the declaration section.
 GENERATING OUTPUT
Second, use DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE in your
executable section to display any message you want
to the screen.

Syntax for displaying a message:

DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(<string>);
in which PUT_LINE is the procedure to generate the
output on the screen, and DBMS_OUTPUT is the
package to which the PUT_LINE belongs.
DBMS_OUTPUT_PUT_LINE(‘My age is ‘ ||
num_age);
 SUBSTITUTION VARIABLES

• SQL*Plus allows a PL/SQL block to receive input

information with the help of substitution variables.
• Substitution variables cannot be used to output the
values because no memory is allocated for them.
• SQL*Plus will substitute a variable before the
PL/SQL block is sent to the database.
• Substitution variables are usually prefixed by the
ampersand(&) character or double ampersand (&&)
character.
EXAMPLE
DECLARE
v_student_id NUMBER := &sv_student_id;
v_first_name VARCHAR2(35);
v_last_name VARCHAR2(35);
BEGIN
SELECT first_name, last_name
INTO v_first_name, v_last_name
FROM student
WHERE student_id = v_student_id;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE
('Student name: '||v_first_name||' '||v_last_name);
EXCEPTION
WHEN NO_DATA_FOUND THEN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('There is no such student');
END;
EXAMPLE

• When this example is executed, the user is asked to

provide a value for the student ID.
• The example shown above uses a single ampersand
for the substitution variable.
• When a single ampersand is used throughout the
PL/SQL block, the user is asked to provide a value
for each occurrence of the substitution variable.
EXAMPLE
BEGIN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Today is ‘||’&sv_day');
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Tomorrow will be ‘||’ &sv_day');
END;

This example produces the following output:

Enter value for sv_day: Monday

old 2: DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Today is ‘||’ &sv_day');
new 2: DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Today is ‘||’ Monday');
Enter value for sv_day: Tuesday
old 3: DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Tomorrow will be ‘||’ &sv_day');
new 3: DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Tomorrow will be ‘||’ Tuesday');
Today is Monday
Tomorrow will be Tuesday
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
EXAMPLE
• When a substitution variable is used in the
script, the output produced by the program
contains the statements that show how the
substitution was done.
• If you do not want to see these lines displayed
in the output produced by the script, use the
SET command option before you run the
script as shown below:

SET VERIFY OFF;

EXAMPLE
• Then, the output changes as shown below:

Enter value for sv_day: Monday

Enter value for sv_day: Tuesday
Today is Monday
Tomorrow will be Tuesday
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

• The substitution variable sv_day appears twice in this

PL/SQL block. As a result, when this example is run, the user
is asked twice to provide the value for the same variable.
 EXAMPLE
BEGIN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Today is '||'&&sv_day');
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Tomorrow will be ‘||’
&sv_day');
END;

• In this example, substitution variable sv_day is prefixed

by double ampersand in the first
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE statement.
• As a result, this version of the example produces
different output.
 OUTPUT

Enter value for sv_day: Monday

old 2: DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Today is ‘||’ &&sv_day');
new 2: DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Today is ‘||’ Monday');
old 3: DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Tomorrow will be ‘||’ &sv_day');
new 3: DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Tomorrow will be ‘||’ Monday');

Today is Monday
Tomorrow will be Monday
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
• It is clear that the user is asked only once to provide the value for
the substitution variable sv_day.
• As a result, both DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE statements use the
value of Monday entered previously by the user.
 Substitution Variables
• Ampersand(&) character and double ampersand (&&)
characters are the default characters that denote
substitution variables.
• There is a special SET command option available in
SQL*Plus that allows to change the default character
(&) to any other character or disable the substitution
variable feature.
• This SET command has the following syntax:
SET DEFINE character
or
SET DEFINE ON
or
SET DEFINE OFF
 Substitution Variables
• The first set command option changes the prefix of
the substitution variable from an ampersand to another
character. This character cannot be alphanumeric or
white space.
• The second (ON option) and third (OFF option)
control whether SQL*Plus will look for substitution
variables or not.
• In addition, ON option changes the value of the
character back to the ampersand.
PL/SQL Loop : Basic Loop, FOR Loop, WHILE Loop

PL/SQL Loop Basic Loop, FOR Loop, WHILE Loop repeat a

number of block statements in your PL/SQL program. Loop use
when we have a block of statements for required to repeatedly
certain number of times. PL/SQL loop statements 3 different forms:

[Link] LOOP
[Link] LOOP
[Link] LOOP

Oracle recommended to write a label when use loop statement. It's

benefit to improve readability. label is not compulsory for execute
loop. compiler does not check to label defined or not.

Define label before LOOP keyword and after END LOOP keyword.
 Basic LOOP
Basic LOOP syntax:

[ label_name ] LOOP
statement(s);
END LOOP [ label_name ];

Example:
DECLARE
no NUMBER := 5;
BEGIN
LOOP
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE ('Inside value: no = ' || no);
no := no -1;
IF no = 0 THEN EXIT;
END IF;
END LOOP;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Outside loop end');
END;
/
 WHILE LOOP

WHILE LOOP write in following syntax format:

[ label_name ] WHILE condition LOOP
statement(s);
END LOOP [ label_name ];

EXAMPLE:

DECLARE
no NUMBER := 0;

BEGIN
WHILE no < 10 LOOP
no := no + 1;
END LOOP;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Sum :' || sum);
END;
/
 FOR LOOP
FOR LOOP write in following syntax format:
[ label_name ] FOR current_value IN [ REVERSE ]
lower_value..upper_value LOOP
statement(s);
END LOOP [ label_name ];123

Example Code:

BEGIN
FOR no IN 1 .. 5 LOOP
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Iteration : ' || no);
END LOOP;
END;
REVERSE FOR Loop

Optional REVERSE keyword introduce to iteration is

proceed from upper_value to lower_value range.

Example Code :

BEGIN
FOR no IN REVERSE 5 .. 1 LOOP
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Iteration : ' || no);
END LOOP;
END;
/
 EXIT Statement
EXIT statement unconditionally exit the current loop iteration and transfer
control to end of current loop. EXIT statement writing syntax,

DECLARE
no NUMBER := 5;
BEGIN
LOOP
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE ('Inside value: no = ' || no);
no := no -1;
IF no = 0 THEN
EXIT;
END IF;
END LOOP;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Outside loop end');
-- After EXIT control transfer this statement
END;
/
 EXIT WHEN Statement

EXIT WHEN statement unconditionally exit the current loop

iteration when WHEN clause condition true.

DECLARE
i number;
BEGIN
LOOP
dbms_output.put_line('Hello');
i:=i+1;
EXIT WHEN i>5;
END LOOP;
END;
/
 CONTINUE Statement
CONTINUE Statement unconditionally skip the current loop iteration and next
iteration iterate as normal, only skip matched condition.

Syntax:
IF condition THEN
CONTINUE;
END IF;

Example Code:
DECLARE
no NUMBER := 0;
BEGIN
FOR no IN 1 .. 5 LOOP
IF i = 4 THEN
CONTINUE;
END IF;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Iteration : ' || no);
END LOOP;
END;
/
 CONTINUE WHEN Statement
CONTINUE WHEN Statement unconditionally skip the current loop
iteration when WHEN clauses condition true,
Syntax:
CONTINUE WHEN condition;
statement(s);

Example Code:

DECLARE
no NUMBER := 0;
BEGIN
FOR no IN 1 .. 5 LOOP
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Iteration : ' || no);
CONTINUE WHEN no = 4
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('CONTINUE WHEN EXECUTE Iteration : ' || no);
END LOOP;
END;
/
 GOTO Statement
GOTO statement unconditionally transfer program control. GOTO
statement writing syntax,

Syntax
GOTO code_name
-----------
-----------
<<code_name>>
-----------
Example:
BEGIN
FOR i IN 1..5 LOOP
dbms_output.put_line(i);
IF i=4 THEN
GOTO label1;
END IF;
END LOOP;
<<label1>>
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(‘khela sesh!!');
END;
/
 PL/SQL Case Statement

PL/SQL CASE statement comparing one by one sequencing conditions. CASE statement
attempt to match expression that is specified in one or more WHEN condition.
CASE statement are following two forms:

[Link] CASE Statement

[Link] CASE Statement

Simple CASE Statement

PL/SQL simple CASE statement evaluates selector and attempt to match one or more WHEN
condition.

CASE selector
WHEN value-1
THEN statement-1;
WHEN value-2
THEN statement-2;
ELSE
statement-3;
END CASE
DECLARE
a number := 7;
BEGIN
CASE a
WHEN 1 THEN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('value 1');
WHEN 2 THEN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('value 2');
WHEN 3 THEN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('value 3');
ELSE
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('no matching CASE
found');
END CASE;
END;
/
Searched CASE Statement
PL/SQL searched CASE statement has not selector and attempt to match one or more
WHEN clauses condition.

Syntax

CASE
WHEN condition-1 THEN
statement-1;
WHEN condition-2 THEN
statement-2;
ELSE
statement-3;
END CASE;
DECLARE
a number := 3;
BEGIN
CASE
WHEN a = 1 THEN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('value 1');

WHEN a = 2 THEN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('value 2');

WHEN a = 3 THEN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('value 3');

ELSE
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('no matching CASE found');

END CASE;
END;
/