Skip to main content

Class on PL/SQL Table Functions at the Oracle Dev Gym

http://bit.ly/dg-tf

A table function is a function that can act like a table inside a SELECT statement. The function returns a collection, and the SQL engine converts that collection into rows and columns that can be manipulated with standard SQL operations (joins, unions, where clauses, etc.).

Far and away the most popular post on this blog is an introduction to a series of articles on table functions:














Given that level of interest in a very interesting feature of PL/SQL, I thought it would be a good thing to give you even more resources to learn about table functions.

So I put together a FREE class at the Oracle Dev Gym on PL/SQL table functions. It consists of four modules and gives you a solid grounding in table function fundamentals:



Each modules consists of a video that covers the basics, followed by a LiveSQL tutorial that dives into more of the details, and gives you an opportunity to run and play with the code. We then finish up the module with quizzes to reinforce and deepen the new knowledge you've just gained.

To get the most out of this class, you should be comfortable writing SELECT statements and PL/SQL functions. Knowledge of collections is a big plus, but I cover the fundamentals in the first module.

Dev Gym classes are "mini-MOOCs" - they are fully online and on-demand classes but are relatively "light" in the amount of time you will need to complete them. You can start the class whenever you have time, take breaks as needed, and when you are finished, print out a certificate of completion.

I hope you will find the class helpful. Just click on this link for more information and to register:

http://bit.ly/dg-tf

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Running out of PGA memory with MULTISET ops? Watch out for DISTINCT!

A PL/SQL team inside Oracle made excellent use of nested tables and MULTISET operators in SQL, blending data in tables with procedurally-generated datasets (nested tables).  All was going well when they hit the dreaded: ORA-04030: out of process memory when trying to allocate 2032 bytes  They asked for my help.  The error occurred on this SELECT: SELECT  *    FROM header_tab trx    WHERE (generated_ntab1 SUBMULTISET OF trx.column_ntab)       AND ((trx.column_ntab MULTISET             EXCEPT DISTINCT generated_ntab2) IS EMPTY) The problem is clearly related to the use of those nested tables. Now, there was clearly sufficient PGA for the nested tables themselves. So the problem was in executing the MULTISET-related functionality. We talked for a bit about dropping the use of nested tables and instead doing everything in SQL, to avoid the PGA error. That would, however require lots of wo...
4 comments
Read more

How to Pick the Limit for BULK COLLECT

This question rolled into my In Box today: In the case of using the LIMIT clause of BULK COLLECT, how do we decide what value to use for the limit? First I give the quick answer, then I provide support for that answer Quick Answer Start with 100. That's the default (and only) setting for cursor FOR loop optimizations. It offers a sweet spot of improved performance over row-by-row and not-too-much PGA memory consumption. Test to see if that's fast enough (likely will be for many cases). If not, try higher values until you reach the performance level you need - and you are not consuming too much PGA memory.  Don't hard-code the limit value: make it a parameter to your subprogram or a constant in a package specification. Don't put anything in the collection you don't need. [from Giulio Dottorini] Remember: each session that runs this code will use that amount of memory. Background When you use BULK COLLECT, you retrieve more than row with each fetch, ...
4 comments
Read more

PL/SQL 101: Save your source code to files

PL/SQL is a database programming language. This means that your source code is compiled into  and executed from within the Oracle Database. There are many fantastic consequences of this fact, many of which are explored in Bryn Llewellyn's Why Use PL/SQL? whitepaper. But this also can mean that developers see the database as the natural repository for the original source code , and this is a bad mistake to make. It's not the sort of mistake any JavaScript or Java or php developer would ever make, because that code is not compiled into the database (well, you can  compile Java into the database, but that's not where 99.99% of all Java code lives). But it's a mistake that apparently too many Oracle Database developers make. So here's the bottom line: Store each PL/SQL program unit in its own file . Use a source code control system to manage those files. Compile them into the database as needed for development and testing. In other words: you should never kee...
16 comments
Read more