Creating dynamic where clause with string delimiter " ; "

Question

hi...
i need a solution for complex problem like, 1. start_date IN date,
end_date IN date,
shift_type IN varchar2
i will get shift_type as "first_shift" or "first_shift;second_shift" or "first_shift;second_shift;third_shift" ....etc any combination. where fist & second & third shits are nothing but 1 , 2 , 3. i need to find out data between start_date and end_date in combination of shifts ( may be 1;2 or 1;3 or 1;2;3 or 2;3 ...etc) . now i need to write this code in dynamic where clause ...i tried in different ways...but not succeeded. can anybody guide me step by step...or with script.
NOTE: there is a table called "shift" with data like
shift_type shift_mode
1 first_shift
2 second_shift
3 third_shift

Answer 1

Hi,
Whenever you have a problem, post a little sample data (CREATE TABLE and INSERT statements) and the results you want from that data.
If the question involves parameters, give a few different sets of parameters and the results you want for each set, given the same sample data.
It's unclear that you need dynamic SQL at all.
If shift_type is a variable, that can be either a single value or a ;-delimited list (such as '1;3'), you can compare that to a column called shift_column like this:
WHERE        ';' || shift_type   || ';'     LIKE
       '%;' || shift_column || ';%'No dynamic SQL or PL/SQL required.
If you really do want to use dynamic SQL, these two pages should gives you some ideas:
http://www.oracle-base.com/articles/misc/DynamicInLists.php
http://tkyte.blogspot.com/2006/06/varying-in-lists.html