Oracle® PL/SQL® Interactive Workbook, Second Edition

Lab 13.1 Creating and Using Functions

Lab Objectives After this Lab, you will be able to: ✓ Create Stored Functions ✓ Make Use of Functions ✓ Invoke Functions in SQL Statements ✓ Write Complex Functions

Function Basics

Functions are another type of stored code and are very similar to procedures. The significant difference is that a function is a PL/SQL block that returns a single value. Functions can accept one, many, or no parameters, but a function must have a return clause in the executable section of the function. The datatype of the return value must be declared in the header of the function. A function is not context. You can think of it as a sentence fragment. A function has output that a stand-alone executable in the way that a procedure ...