Pass an array of a user defined class to a stored procedure in java

Question

Hi All,
I am trying to pass an array of a user defined class as an input parameter to a stored procedure. So far i have done the following:
Step 1: created an object type.
CREATE TYPE department_type AS OBJECT (
DNO NUMBER (10),
NAME VARCHAR2 (50),
LOCATION VARCHAR2 (50)
Step 2: created a varray of the above type.
CREATE TYPE dept_array1 AS TABLE OF department_type;
Step 3:Created a package to insert the records.
CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE objecttype
AS
PROCEDURE insert_object (d dept_array);
END objecttype;
CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE BODY objecttype
AS
PROCEDURE insert_object (d dept_array)
AS
BEGIN
FOR i IN d.FIRST .. d.LAST
LOOP
INSERT INTO department
VALUES (d (i).dno,d (i).name,d (i).location);
END LOOP;
END insert_object;
END objecttype;
Step 4:Created a java class to map the columns of the object type.
public class Department
private double DNO;
private String Name;
private String Loation;
public void setDNO(double DNO)
this.DNO = DNO;
public double getDNO()
return DNO;
public void setName(String Name)
this.Name = Name;
public String getName()
return Name;
public void setLoation(String Loation)
this.Loation = Loation;
public String getLoation()
return Loation;
Step 5: created a method to call the stored procedure.
public static void main(String arg[]){
try{
Department d1 = new Department();
d1.setDNO(1); d1.setName("Accounts"); d1.setLoation("LHR");
Department d2 = new Department();
d2.setDNO(2); d2.setName("HR"); d2.setLoation("ISB");
Department[] deptArray = {d1,d2};
OracleCallableStatement callStatement = null;
DBConnection dbConnection= DBConnection.getInstance();
Connection cn = dbConnection.getDBConnection(false); //using a framework to get connections
ArrayDescriptor arrayDept = ArrayDescriptor.createDescriptor("DEPT_ARRAY", cn);
ARRAY deptArrayObject = new ARRAY(arrayDept, cn, deptArray); //I get an SQLException here
callStatement = (OracleCallableStatement)cn.prepareCall("{call objecttype.insert_object(?)}");
((OracleCallableStatement)callStatement).setArray(1, deptArrayObject);
callStatement.executeUpdate();
cn.commit();
catch(Exception e){ 
System.out.println(e.toString());
I get the following exception:
java.sql.SQLException: Fail to convert to internal representation
My question is can I pass an array to a stored procedure like this and if so please help me reslove the exception.
Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

OK I am back again and seems like talking to myself. Anyways i had a talk with one of the java developers in my team and he said that making an array of structs is not much use to them as they already have a java bean/VO class defined and they want to send an array of its objects to the database not structs so I made the following changes to their java class. (Again hoping some one will find this useful).
Setp1: I implemented the SQLData interface on the department VO class.
import java.sql.SQLData;
import java.sql.SQLOutput;
import java.sql.SQLInput;
import java.sql.SQLException;
public class Department implements SQLData
private double DNO;
private String Name;
private String Location;
public void setDNO(double DNO)
this.DNO = DNO;
public double getDNO()
return DNO;
public void setName(String Name)
this.Name = Name;
public String getName()
return Name;
public void setLocation(String Location)
this.Location = Location;
public String getLoation()
return Location;
public void readSQL(SQLInput stream, String typeName)throws SQLException
public void writeSQL(SQLOutput stream)throws SQLException
stream.writeDouble(this.DNO);
stream.writeString(this.Name);
stream.writeString(this.Location);
public String getSQLTypeName() throws SQLException
return "DOCCOMPLY.DEPARTMENT_TYPE";
Step 2: I made the following changes to the main method.
public static void main(String arg[]){
try{
Department d1 = new Department();
d1.setDNO(1);
d1.setName("CPM");
d1.setLocation("LHR");
Department d2 = new Department();
d2.setDNO(2);
d2.setName("Admin");
d2.setLocation("ISB");
Department[] deptArray = {d1,d2};
OracleCallableStatement callStatement = null;
DBConnection dbConnection= DBConnection.getInstance();
Connection cn = dbConnection.getDBConnection(false);
ArrayDescriptor arrayDept = ArrayDescriptor.createDescriptor("DEPT_ARRAY", cn);
ARRAY deptArrayObject = new ARRAY(arrayDept, cn, deptArray);
callStatement = (OracleCallableStatement)cn.prepareCall("{call objecttype.insert_array_object(?)}");
((OracleCallableStatement)callStatement).setArray(1, deptArrayObject);
callStatement.executeUpdate();
cn.commit();
catch(Exception e){
System.out.println(e.toString());
and it started working no more SQLException. (The changes to the department class were done manfully but they tell me JPublisher would have been better).
Regards,
Shiraz