Oracle PL/SQL for DBAs

Records

Each row in a table has one or more columns of various datatypes. Similarly, a record is composed of one or more fields. There are three different ways to define a record, but once defined, the same rules apply for referencing and changing fields in a record.

The block below demonstrates the declaration of a record that is based directly on an underlying database table. Suppose that I have defined a table to keep track of my favorite books:

    CREATE TABLE books (
      book_id         INTEGER,
      isbn            VARCHAR2(13)
      title           VARCHAR2(200),
    );

I can then easily create a record based on this table, populate it with a query from the database, and then access the individual columns through the record’s fields:

    DECLARE
       my_book   books%ROWTYPE;
    BEGIN
       SELECT *
         INTO my_book
         FROM books
        WHERE title = 'Oracle PL/SQL Programming, 4th Edition';
    END;