Building Dynamic PL/SQL

Question

Hi All
I have a formula Column that I am trying to put the State Name in on the top of my report. Under the PL/SQL formula property I have a SQL statement that will return the state name. I have a problem and a question.
Problem
I am trying to pass the schema name to the sql statement using a Bind Variable.
So the function looks something like this.
function CF_1Formula return Char is
V_var varchar2(100);
BEGIN
BEGIN
SELECT DISTINCT state_name INTO V_var
FROM /* This is were I need the bind variable to point to the schema */ state st
WHERE st.state_num(+)=1111
EXCEPTION WHEN OTHERS THEN NULL;
END;
     RETURN(V_var);
END;
Can someone please show me how to do this. I've also tried using srw.do_SQL but I keep getting errors. I'm also not for sure if that is the best way to do it.
Question
Is there any other function besides srw.message that can be used for debugging to see what is in a variable?
Any replies are greatly appreciated.
Thanks Very much

Answer 1

Hi,
In Reports there is one feature called EXEC_SQL Package , that can be used:
Refer Reports help for further info and the below example:
connection_id EXEC_SQL.CONNTYPE;
bIsConnected BOOLEAN;
cursorID EXEC_SQL.CURSTYPE;
sqlstr VARCHAR2(1000);
nIgn PLS_INTEGER;
nRows PLS_INTEGER := 0;
nTimes PLS_INTEGER := 0;
mynum NUMBER;
BEGIN
-- obtain the default connection and check that it is valid
connection_id := EXEC_SQL.DEFAULT_CONNECTION;
bIsConnected := EXEC_SQL.IS_CONNECTED;
IF bIsConnected = FALSE THEN
srw.message(1,'No primary connection. Please connect before retrying.');
RETURN;
END IF;
-- subsequent calls to EXEC_SQL.OPEN_CURSOR, EXEC_SQL.PARSE, EXEC_SQL.DEFINE_COLUMN,
-- EXEC_SQL.EXECUTE, EXEC_SQL.FETCH_ROWS, EXEC_SQL.COLUMN_VALUE,
-- EXEC_SQL.CLOSE_CURSOR, EXEC_SQL.CLOSE_CONNECTION all use this connection
-- implicitly from the cache
cursorID := EXEC_SQL.OPEN_CURSOR;
sqlstr := 'select empno from emp';
EXEC_SQL.PARSE(cursorID, sqlstr, exec_sql.V7);
EXEC_SQL.DEFINE_COLUMN(cursorID, 1, mynum);
nIgn := EXEC_SQL.EXECUTE(cursorID);
LOOP
IF (EXEC_SQL.FETCH_ROWS(cursorID) > 0) THEN
EXEC_SQL.COLUMN_VALUE(cursorID, 1, mynum);
ELSE
exit;
END IF;
END LOOP;
EXEC_SQL.CLOSE_CURSOR(cursorID);
EXEC_SQL.CLOSE_CONNECTION;
END;