Passing parameter in stored procedure

Question

Hi, I am really new to using Oracle stored procedure. I have just tested a sample stored proc which should return multiple rows without passing any parameter.
here is the stored proc I wrote
create or replace procedure get_address
as
cur_table sys_refcursor;
begin
open cur_table for
select * from address_table order by addr_id;
end;
when I execute it, I get a message "Procedure Created"
then I executed the stored proc
exec get_address;
I again get a message "PL/SQL procedure successfully completed" and I do not see the records at all.
so I decide to rewrite to the stored proc as such
create or replace procedure get_address(cur_table out sys_refcursor)
as
begin
open cur_table for
select * from address_table order by addr_id;
end;
everthing is good so far.
now when execute it
exec get_address;
I am getting the following error:
"PLS-00306: wrong number or types of arguments in call to 'TESTCODEPROC'"
I have searched so many places, but there is no document talks about this issue. I hope someone can help me to over come this. I need to call this stored proc from .NET 2.0 reporting viewer which is embedded in asp.net page.
Thank you.

Answer 1

so I decide to rewrite to the stored proc as such
create or replace procedure get_address(cur_table out
sys_refcursor)
as
begin
open cur_table for
select * from address_table order by addr_id;
end;
everthing is good so far.
now when execute it
exec get_address;
I am getting the following error:
"PLS-00306: wrong number or types of arguments in
call to 'TESTCODEPROC'"
From what you wrote I can assume that you have used SQL server before. Oracle does not automatically return the last opened cursor from a stored procedure like the query result, so you cannot just call exec get_address; (or just execute the procedure from .NET code). You will have to pass the cursor parameter and fetch it as an output parameter value in .NET, then use it to get the data reader etc.
On the other hand, you can just execute the statement directly. I see a lot of folks coming from SQL server world using stored procedures like crazy even for things that are naturally suited to queries and views. Oracle view allows you to apply the same security restrictions you can put onto a stored procedure, and if you use statement caching and bound variables, you get precompilation benefits as well with a view. Using a view instead of a procedure in this case will require less code both in the database and in .NET, and will give you a more flexible interface in terms of retrieved columns and ordering.
gojko adzic
http://gojko.net