8-2: Using Parameters in Procedures

Pass or communicate data between the caller and subprogram

Parametros

The actual value assigned to a parameter.

Argumento

Can be literal values, variables, or expressions that are provided in the parameter list of a called
subprogram.
Parametro atual

A parameter name declared in the procedure heading.

Paramtetro Formal

Try It / Solve It

1. In your own words, describe parameters and the purpose they serve in PL/SQL
subprograms.
R: Parâmetros são variáveis passadas do programa que a chama para o subprograma.
São usados para tornar as procedures mais flexíveis, para ser usada para mais de um propósito
ou em lugares diferentes.

2. Using the COUNTRIES table:

a. Create a procedure that accepts a country_id as a parameter and displays the name of the
country and its capitol city. Name your procedure get_country_info. Save your procedure
definition for later use.
CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE get_country_info
(p_country_id IN wf_countries.country_id%TYPE) IS
v_country_id wf_countries.country_id%TYPE;
v_capitol wf_countries.capitol%TYPE;
BEGIN
SELECT country_id, capitol INTO v_country_id, v_capitol
FROM wf_countries
WHERE country_id = p_country_id;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(v_country_id || ' ' || v_capitol);
END get_country_info;

b. Execute your procedure from an anonymous block, using country_id 90.

BEGIN
get_country_info(90);
END;

c. Re-execute the procedure from the anonymous block, this time using country_id 95. What
happens?
ORA-01403: no data found
d. Retrieve your procedure code from Saved SQL and modify it to trap the NO_DATA_FOUND
exception in an exception handler. Execute the modified procedure using country_id 95
again. Now what happens?
CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE get_country_info
(p_country_id IN wf_countries.country_id%TYPE) IS
v_country_id wf_countries.country_id%TYPE;
v_capitol wf_countries.capitol%TYPE;
BEGIN
SELECT country_id, capitol INTO v_country_id, v_capitol
FROM wf_countries
WHERE country_id = p_country_id;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(v_country_id || ' ' || v_capitol);
EXCEPTION
WHEN NO_DATA_FOUND THEN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(‘Não há um país com o id informado’);
END get_country_info;

BEGIN
get_country_info(95);
END;
Output: ‘Não há um país com o id informado’

3. In your own words, describe what a formal parameter is and what an actual parameter is.
Also, name three variations for an actual parameter.
Parametro formal é declarado no início da procedure
O parâmetro atual é informado quando a procedure é invocada
Parametro atual pode ser valores, variaveis ou expressões.

4. Procedure Exercise:

A. Write a procedure that displays the number of countries in a given region whose
highest elevations exceed a given value. The procedure should accept two formal
parameters, one for a region_id and the other for an elevation value for comparison.
Use DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE to display the results in a message. Save your procedure
code.
CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE get_no_countries
(p_region_id IN wf_countries.region_id%TYPE, p_highest_elevation IN
wf_countries.highest_elevation%TYPE) IS
v_count NUMBER(3);
BEGIN
SELECT count(country_id) INTO v_count
FROM wf_countries
WHERE region_id = p_region_id AND highest_elevation > p_highest_elevation;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(O número de paises maior que ' || p_highest_elevation || ' para
a região ' || p_region_id || ' é ' || v_count);
END get_no_countries;
B. Execute your procedure using the value 5 for the region_id and 2000 for the highest
elevation.
BEGIN
get_no_countries(5,2000);
END;

C. DESCRIBE your procedure to check the names and datatypes of its formal parameters.
DESCRIBE get_no_countries;

D. Retrieve your procedure code from Saved SQL and modify it to accept a third formal
parameter of datatype CHAR. The procedure should display a count of the number of
countries in a given region whose highest elevations exceed a given value and whose
country name starts with a given alphabetic character. Your SELECT statement should
include a WHERE condition to compare the first character of each country’s name with
the third parameter value (Hint: use SUBSTR). Save your work again and DESCRIBE the
modified procedure.

CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE get_no_countries

(p_region_id IN wf_countries.region_id%TYPE, p_highest_elevation IN
wf_countries.highest_elevation%TYPE,p_first_letter CHAR) IS
v_count NUMBER(3);
BEGIN
SELECT count(country_id) INTO v_count
FROM wf_countries
WHERE region_id = p_region_id AND highest_elevation > p_highest_elevation AND
SUBSTR(country_name,1,1) = p_first_letter;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(‘O número de países com elevação maior do que’ ||
p_highest_elevation || ' para a região ' || p_region_id || ' é ' || v_count);
END get_no_countries;

DESCRIBE get_no_countries;

E. Write an anonymous block which declares three variables to store actual parameter
values for the region_id, elevation, and area, and then executes the procedure passing
these values. Execute the block using values 5, 2000, and ‘B’.
DECLARE
v_region_id wf_countries.region_id%TYPE;
v_elevation wf_countries.highest_elevation%TYPE;
v_letter CHAR;
BEGIN
v_region_id := 5;
v_elevation := 2000;
v_letter := 'B';
get_no_countries(v_region_id, v_elevation, v_letter);
END;
F. Modify your anonymous block to use the same actual parameter values but pass them
to the procedure in a different order: (5, ‘B’, 2000). Execute the block. What happens
and why?
DECLARE
v_region_id wf_countries.region_id%TYPE;
v_elevation wf_countries.highest_elevation%TYPE;
v_letter CHAR;
BEGIN
v_region_id := 5;
v_elevation := 2000;
v_letter := 'B';
get_no_countries(v_region_id, v_letter, v_elevation);
END;

ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error: character to number conversion error

Não é possível converter B para um valor numérico.