Oracle PL/SQL for DBAs

Packages

A package is a grouping or packaging together of PL/SQL code elements. Packages provide a structure (both logically and physically) in which you can organize your programs and other PL/SQL elements such as cursors, TYPEs, and variables. They also offer significant, unique functionality, including the ability to hide logic and data from view, and to define and manipulate global, or session-persistent, data.

Rules for building packages

The package is a deceptively simple construct. In a small amount of time, you can learn all the basic elements of package syntax and rules, but you can spend weeks (or more) uncovering all the nuances and implications of the package structure. In this section, we review the rules you need to know to build packages.

To construct a package, you must build a specification and, in almost every case, a package body. You must decide which elements go into the specification and which are hidden away in the body. You also can include a block of code that Oracle will use to initialize the package.

The package specification. The specification of a package lists all the elements in that package that are available for use in applications, and it provides all the information a developer needs to use elements defined in the package (often referred to as an API, or application programming interface). A developer should never have to look at the implementation code in a package body to figure out how to use an element in the specification.

Here are some rules ...