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POOracle 8i dynamic SQL error on subselects in pl/sql blocks
 

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  1. POOracle 8i dynamic SQL error on subselects in pl/sql blocks
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    <p>I wrote an Oracle function (for 8i) to fetch rows affected by a DML statement, emulating the behavior of RETURNING * from PostgreSQL. A typical function call looks like:</p> <p><code>SELECT tablename_dml('UPDATE tablename SET foo = ''bar''') FROM dual;</code></p> <p>The function is created automatically for each table and uses Dynamic SQL to execute a query passed as an argument. Moreover, a statement that executes the query dynamically is also wrapped in a BEGIN .. END block:</p> <p><code>EXECUTE IMMEDIATE 'BEGIN'||query||' RETURNING col1, col2 BULK COLLECT INTO :1, :2;END;' USING OUT col1_t, col2_t;</code></p> <p>The reason behind this perculiar construction is that it seems to be the only way to get values from the DML statement that affects multiple rows. Both col1_t and col2_t are declared as collections of the types corresponding to the table columns.</p> <p>Finally, to the problem. When the query passed contains a subselect, execution of the function produces a syntax error. Below is a simpe example to illustrate this:</p> <pre><code>CREATE TABLE xy(id number, name varchar2(80)); CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION xy_fn(query VARCHAR2) RETURN NUMBER IS PRAGMA AUTONOMOUS_TRANSACTION; BEGIN EXECUTE IMMEDIATE 'BEGIN '||query||'; END;'; ROLLBACK; RETURN 5; END; SELECT xy_fn('update xy set id = id + (SELECT min(id) FROM xy)') FROM DUAL; </code></pre> <p>The last statement produces the following error: (the SELECT that is mentioned there is the SELECT min(id))</p> <blockquote> <p>ORA-06550: line 1, column 32: PLS-00103: Encountered the symbol "SELECT" when expecting one of the following: ( - + mod not null others avg count current exists max min prior sql stddev sum variance execute forall time timestamp interval date </p> </blockquote> <p>This problem occurs on 8i (8.1.6), but not 10g. If BEGIN .. END blocks are removed - the problem disappears. If a subselect in a query is replaced with something else, i.e. a constant, the problem disappears.</p> <p>Unfortunately, I'm stuck with 8i and removing BEGIN .. END is not an option (see the explanation above).</p> <p>Is there a specific Oracle 8i limitation in play here? Is it possible to overcome it with dynamic SQL?</p>
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    1. USalexk
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    1. CO8i?? Extended support finished over 5 years ago...
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      1. POOracle 8i dynamic SQL error on subselects in pl/sql blocks
      1. USBen
    2. CO@Ben: you can laugh, but I'm *still* making changes to an 8i database instance...
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      1. POOracle 8i dynamic SQL error on subselects in pl/sql blocks
      1. USJeffrey Kemp
    3. CO@JeffreyKemp, I'm not laughing! I understand that sometimes it's difficult to move ( I've still got a few inter-connected 9i boxes - but we've upgrading them). If at all possible one should really be using a supported version... it makes more sense than using an unsupported one.
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      1. USBen
 

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