


When you enter a block or subprogram, a collection is created, and it is destroyed when you quit. The same scope and instantiation rules apply to collections as they do to other types and variables. Collectionsĭifferent data type items are called fieldsįor creating a collection variable you can use %TYPEįor creating a record variable you can use %ROWTYPE or %TYPEĭefining Collection Types and Declaring Collection Variablesįor creating collections, You specify a collection type and then declare variables of that type. Here are the key differences between collections and records in PL/SQL. Want to know more about SQL? Read this extensive SQL Tutorial and enhance your knowledge!ĭifference between collections and records in PL/SQL You can build a view or declare a cursor to choose the right columns and perform any necessary joins, then apply percent ROWTYPE to the view or cursor to represent a subset of columns in a table or columns from separate tables.
Sql datatype for an icollections code#
Even when columns are added to the table, your code continues to work. You can declare a PL/SQL record that resembles a row in a database table without listing all the columns using the % ROWTYPE attribute. Records are made up of a collection of fields that are similar to the columns in a row. A record can be thought of as a variable that can store a table row or a set of columns from a table row. A varray can have any number of items, starting at zero (when empty) and ending at the maximum stated in its type specification.Ī record is a collection of data objects that are kept in fields, each having its own name and datatype. For example, the top bound for varray Grades is now 7, but it may be increased to a maximum of 10. It has a fixed lower bound of 1 and an extendible higher bound in its index.

In the below image, the maximum size of a varray is specified in its type specification. They can be saved and retrieved using SQL, but their versatility is limited compared to stacked tables. Equivalent SQL types can be defined, allowing varrays to be stored in database tables. As subscripts, they use consecutive numerals. Varray: Variable-size arrays are also called as varrays, have a set number of elements that they can carry. A nested table’s size can grow and shrink dynamically, but there is a limit. The below is an example of nested tables: As seen in the below image, nested tables have no stated number of items, whereas arrays have a predetermined quantity. Equivalent SQL types can be defined, allowing nested tables to be stored in database tables and manipulated via SQL. Nested tables: An arbitrary amount of elements can be stored in nested tables. howmany := continent_population(continent_population.LAST) END which := continent_population.LAST - Returns the value corresponding to the last key, in this - case the population of Australia. which := continent_population.FIRST - Returns 'Australia' as that comes last alphabetically. DECLARE TYPE population_type IS TABLE OF NUMBER INDEX BY VARCHAR2(64) country_population population_type continent_population population_type howmany NUMBER which VARCHAR2(64) BEGIN country_population('Greenland') := 100000 - Creates new entry country_population('Iceland') := 750000 - Creates new entry - Looks up value associated with a string howmany := country_population('Greenland') continent_population('Australia') := 30000000 continent_population('Antarctica') := 1000 - Creates new entry continent_population('Antarctica') := 1001 - Replaces previous value - Returns 'Antarctica' as that comes first alphabetically. Here is an example for declaration of an associative array. In other programming languages, hash tables are comparable to this. Index-by-tables: Associative arrays, often known as index-by tables, allow you to look up elements by subscribing them with arbitrary numbers and strings. The following collection types are available in PL/SQL: A specific subscript is assigned to each element. It’s a broad term that incorporates lists, arrays, and other data structures commonly employed in traditional programming procedures. PL/SQL CollectionsĪ collection is a set of items that are all of the same types and are arranged in a certain order. For example, array, columns, or table elements. Collections and records are composite data types with internal components such as scalar or composite components that can have access individually.
