Attachment values according variable names

Question

Hello,
In iteration I want to get values from variables according their names, i.e.:
DECLARE
val1 VARCHAR2(10) :='value1';
val2 VARCHAR2(10) :='value2';
val3 VARCHAR2(10) :='value3';
val VARCHAR2(10);
BEGIN
FOR i IN 1..3 LOOP
val:=val||i;
dbms_output.put_line(val);
END LOOP;
END;
In each iteration I want to get one value at time: value1 then value2 and so on. I think, it can be done with NDS, but I really don't know the right solution.
Can you help me please?

Answer 1

Hi,
If you want to be able to loop through those variables as if they were a collection, then actually make them a collection. For example:
DECLARE
    TYPE  my_string     IS TABLE OF VARCHAR2 (10);
    vals  my_string := my_string ( 'value1'
                                  , 'value2'
                         , 'value3'
BEGIN
    FOR i IN 1 .. 3
    LOOP
     dbms_output.put_line (vals (i));
    END LOOP;
END;
/What's the advantage of having separate variables with names like val1? Is it that much harder to use vals (1)?