How to convert Collection to user defined type in db

Question

Hello All,
I am using Apex 4.1.0.00.32 and Oracle 11g.
I have page process to store the user selected rows (keys) in a collection as follows:
declare
   temp varchar2(4000);
   vrow number;
   begin
   apex_collection.CREATE_OR_TRUNCATE_COLLECTION('SELECTED_PERSONS');
      IF (apex_application.g_f32.COUNT > 0) THEN
           FOR ii IN 1 .. htmldb_application.g_f32.COUNT
           LOOP
                vrow := apex_application.g_f32(ii);
               APEX_COLLECTION.ADD_MEMBER('SELECTED_PERSONS', apex_application.g_f30(vrow));
          END LOOP;
       END IF;
end;I need to call a database function which takes an user defined type VC_ARRAY_1 defined as:
create or replace TYPE  "VC_ARRAY_1"  AS TABLE OF VARCHAR2(4000) How do I convert the collection to VC_ARRAY_1, so that I can call the db function?
Thanks,
Rose

Answer 1

Hi Joel,
Yes, the collection contains the person_ids. But, I am selecting from a function which returns a pipelined table. In Oracle Database, few user defined types and functions are defined as given below:
create or replace TYPE  "VC_ARRAY_1"   as table of varchar2(4000)
create or replace FUNCTION   "GET_ARRAY" ( p_array  IN   varchar2,  p_delimiter   IN   varchar2  default ':')  return  VC_ARRAY_1 PIPELINED
create or replace TYPE   "AFFECTED_INDIVIDUAL"  as object("PERSONKEY" VARCHAR2(4000),  "FIRST_NAME" VARCHAR2(4000), "LAST_NAME" VARCHAR2(4000)… more variables)
create or replace TYPE  "AFF_IND_TAB"  as table of  "AFFECTED_INDIVIDUAL"
create or replace FUNCTION  GET_AFF_INDIVIDUALS(personKeys IN VC_ARRAY_1) return  AFF_IND_TAB PIPELINEDThe function GET_AFF_INDIVIDUALS uses several tables and returns pipelined table. In Apex, I have a SQL query that feeds the Report query.
select *  from table (get_aff_individuals(get_array(:F_SELECTED_PERSONS, ',')))The application item F_SELECTED_PERSONS is a varchar2 that contains comma separated person ids. I want to replace the application item with Apex collection. Initially, I thought that I can convert the apex collection to an array of vc_array_1.
Thanks for your time and help.
Rose