Chapter 15. Packages

Beginner

Q:

15-1.

No. You can’t execute the package as a whole; it’s simply a container for other PL/SQL elements. You can execute procedures and functions defined in the package specification, as well as reference data structures defined in a package specification (a constant, variable, exception, etc.).

Q:

15-2.

You would use dot notation, in the form of package.element, as in:

financial_pkg.calc_totals (...);

Q:

15-3.

You don’t need to qualify a package element with its package name under these circumstances:

  • You are currently writing code within that package’s specification or body. This package is then the default scope. You can qualify with the package name if you want or leave it off.

  • You are referencing an element in one of the two default packages in PL/SQL, STANDARD, and DBMS_STANDARD.

Q:

15-4.

This table explains the use of the packaged elements in this code:

Package

Element

Element Type

STANDARD

DATE

Datatype

pets_r_us

max_pets_in_facility

Variable, constant, or function

STANDARD

TO_NUMBER

Function

STANDARD

>

Function

DBMS_OUTPUT

PUT_LINE

Procedure

pets_r_us

pet_is_sick

Exception

DBMS_STANDARD

RAISE_APPLICATION_ERROR

Procedure

The STANDARD package contains the definitions of many of the elements of the PL/SQL language, including datatypes, exceptions, and functions. DBMS_STANDARD contains database-related programs, including COMMIT, ROLLBACK, and RAISE_APPLICATION_ERROR. They are the defaults, so dot notation is not required.

Q:

15-5.

Any data structure declared in a package specification ...

Get Oracle PL/SQL Programming: A Developer's Workbook now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.