Arrays as IN/OUT parameters to stored procs

Question

I need the ability to pass Java arrays as input parameters and receive arrays as output parameters from stored procedures. I searched this forum for "array stored procedure" and came up with 9 posts dating back to April 30, 1999. In every one of these posts, people have asked how this can be done, and as yet there has not been any real solution provided. One messy solution is to add another stored proc that takes the array items as scalars and builds a PL/SQL table to pass to the original stored proc.
I am getting the impression that using arrays for IN/OUT parameters to/from stored procedures is not possible with JDK 1.1. Can it be done with JDK 1.2?
Isn't there anyone from Oracle that can provide an answer or solution?

Answer 1

I've searched for a way of passing a rowtype to a stored
procedure or passing an array to a stored procedure.
The following example may have some pertinence. It was posted at
http://www.classicity.com/oracle/htdocs/forums/ClsyForumID124/6.h
tml#
I also think that it would be useful to know how best to pas a
ResultSet or equivalent to a Stored Procedure, if someone has
more information. The idea is to have symmetry between the way
data is retrieved from SP's (CURSORS) and supplied to SP's (???
ARRAY/CURSOR) ?
"[Example]Example of using JDBC with VARRAYS and REF CURSORs"
This example shows how to use JDBC with VARRAYS and REF
CURSORs.
It also shows use of the PreparedStatement and CallableStatement
methods.
The example does the follows:
1. selects from a table of VARRAYs
2. inserts into a table of VARRAYs
3. selects from a table of VARRAYs
4. calls stored procedure -- parameters <ref cursor, varray>
In order to test it, you will need to do two things first:
1) Create related tables and types first. The screipt is given
below.
2) Create a package that gets called from JAVA code. The script
is given below.
======================= Step 1 create tables etc. cute here
==================
-- Run this through SQL*PLUS
drop TABLE varray_table;
drop TYPE num_varray;
drop TABLE sec;
-- create the type
create TYPE num_varray as VARRAY(10) OF NUMBER(12, 2);
-- create the table
create TABLE varray_table (col1 num_varray);
-- create the sec table
create table sec (sec_id number(8) not null, sec_grp_id number
(8) not null,
company_id number(8) not null);
insert into sec values (1,200,11);
insert into sec values (2,1100,22);
insert into sec values (3,1300,33);
insert into sec values (4,1800,44);
==================== End of step
1===========================================
================== Step 2 create package
====================================
-- Run it through sql*plus
CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE packageA AS
type sctype is ref cursor return SEC%ROWTYPE;
procedure get_port_consensus(sc IN OUT sctype, arr IN
num_varray);
procedure test_port_consensus(sc IN OUT sctype);
END packageA;
CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE BODY packageA AS
procedure test_port_consensus(sc IN OUT sctype)
IS
testArr num_varray := num_varray(200, 1100, 1300, 1800);
BEGIN
get_port_consensus(sc, testArr);
END test_port_consensus;
procedure get_port_consensus(sc IN OUT sctype, arr IN num_varray)
IS
BEGIN
open sc for select * from sec
where sec_grp_id = arr(1)
or sec_grp_id = arr(2)
or sec_grp_id = arr(3)
or sec_grp_id = arr(4);
END get_port_consensus;
END packageA;
===================== End of step 2
===================================
============ JAVA code to test the whole thing
========================
import java.sql.*;
import oracle.sql.*;
import oracle.jdbc.oracore.Util;
import oracle.jdbc.driver.*;
import java.math.BigDecimal;
public class ArrayExample
public static void main (String args<>)
DriverManager.registerDriver(new oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleDriver
// Connect to the database
// You need to put your database name after the @ sign in
// the connection URL.
// The example retrieves an varray of type "NUM_VARRAY",
// materializes the object as an object of type ARRAY.
// A new ARRAY is then inserted into the database.
Connection conn =
DriverManager.getConnection ("jdbc:oracle:oci8:@v81",
"scott", "tiger");
// It's faster when auto commit is off
conn.setAutoCommit (false);
// Create a Statement
Statement stmt = conn.createStatement ();
System.out.println("Querying varray_table");
ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT * FROM varray_table");
showResultSet (rs);
// now insert a new row
// create a new ARRAY object
int elements<> = { 200, 1100, 1300, 1800 };
ArrayDescriptor desc = ArrayDescriptor.createDescriptor
("NUM_VARRAY",conn);
ARRAY newArray = new ARRAY(desc, conn, elements);
// prepare statement to be inserted and bind the num_varray type
System.out.println("PreparedStatement: Inserting into
varray_table");
PreparedStatement ps =
conn.prepareStatement ("insert into varray_table values (?)");
((OraclePreparedStatement)ps).setARRAY (1, newArray);
ps.execute ();
// query to view our newly inserted row
System.out.println("Querying varray_table again");
rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT * FROM varray_table");
showResultSet (rs);
// prepare a callable statement -- call the stored procedure
// passing <ref cursor in out, varray in>
System.out.println("CallableStatement: Calling Stored
Procedure");
OracleCallableStatement oraStmt1 =
(OracleCallableStatement)conn.prepareCall("{ call
packageA.get_port_consensus(?, ?) }");
oraStmt1.registerOutParameter(1, OracleTypes.CURSOR);
oraStmt1.setARRAY(2, newArray);
oraStmt1.execute();
rs = (ResultSet)oraStmt1.getObject(1);
// loop through the result set of the ref cursor and display
while (rs.next()) {
System.out.println(rs.getString("sec_grp_id"));
// Close all the resources
rs.close();
ps.close();
stmt.close();
oraStmt1.close();
conn.close();
public static void showResultSet (ResultSet rs)
throws SQLException
int line = 0;
while (rs.next())
line++;
System.out.println("Row "+line+" : ");
ARRAY array = ((OracleResultSet)rs).getARRAY (1);
System.out.println ("Array is of type "+array.getSQLTypeName());
System.out.println ("Array element is of type
code "+array.getBaseType());
System.out.println ("Array is of length "+array.length());
// get Array elements
BigDecimal<> values = (BigDecimal<>) array.getArray();
for (int i=0; i<values.length; i++)
BigDecimal value = (BigDecimal) values;
System.out.println(">> index "+i+" = "+value.intValue());