Oracle PL/SQL Programming, Third Edition

The WHILE Loop

The WHILE loop is a conditional loop that continues to execute as long as the Boolean condition defined in the loop boundary evaluates to TRUE. Because the WHILE loop execution depends on a condition and is not fixed, you should use a WHILE loop if you don’t know in advance the number of times a loop must execute.

Here is the general syntax for the WHILE loop:

WHILE condition 
LOOP
   executable statement(s)
END LOOP;

where condition is a Boolean variable or an expression that evaluates to a Boolean value of TRUE, FALSE, or NULL. Each time an iteration of the loop’s body is to be executed, the condition is checked. If it evaluates to TRUE, then the body is executed. If it evaluates to FALSE or NULL, then the loop terminates and control passes to the next executable statement following the END LOOP statement.

The following table summarizes the properties of the WHILE loop:

Property	Description
How the loop is terminated	The WHILE loop terminates when the Boolean expression in its boundary evaluates to FALSE or NULL.
When the test for termination takes place	The test for termination of a WHILE loop takes place in the loop boundary. This evaluation occurs prior to the first and each subsequent execution of the body. The WHILE loop, therefore, is not guaranteed to execute its loop even a single time.
Reason to use this loop	Use the WHILE loop when: You are not sure how many times you must execute the loop body, and You will want to conditionally terminate ...