Compilation error while creating procedure

Question

Hi,
I am getting compilation error while creating procedure
CREATE OR REPLACE My_CHANGEDATE IS
error_string VARCHAR2(400) := NULL;
BEGIN
Create table set_temp as select * from set;
CURSOR c1 is
     SELECT a.SETNUM, b.CHANGEDATE from
     set a, setsp_t2 b
     where a.setnum = b.setnum
     and trunc(a.changedate) < trunc(b.CHANGEDATE);
BEGIN
     FOR rec IN c1 LOOP
          UPDATE set SET changedate = rec.changedate
          WHERE setnum = rec.setnum;
          Insert into set_temp select * from set where setnum = rec.setnum;
          END LOOP;
     EXCEPTION
          WHEN NO_DATA_FOUND THEN
          NULL;
     WHEN OTHERS THEN
               error_string := 'My_CHANGEDATE - '||SUBSTR(SQLERRM,1,350);
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(error_string);
               RAISE;
END My_CHANGEDATE;

Answer 1

I have taken your code and cleaned it up to be more readable. Please see the comments in the code.
CREATE OR REPLACE My_CHANGEDATE
IS
        error_string VARCHAR2(400) := NULL;
BEGIN
        /* The only way to issue DDL in a procedure is to either user
         * DBMS_SQL or EXECUTE IMMEDIATE. Creating objects is generally
         * not needed or recommended in frequently run code.
        Create table set_temp as select * from set;    
        /* The cursor declarations need to go in the declaration section of the
         * procedure (between IS .. BEGIN).
        CURSOR c1 is                                   
        SELECT a.SETNUM, b.CHANGEDATE from
        set a, setsp_t2 b
        where a.setnum = b.setnum
        and trunc(a.changedate) < trunc(b.CHANGEDATE);
        BEGIN   /* Where is the END that goes with this begin? */
        /* Single record processing is generally not recommended. It is considered a "slow-by-slow" method. */
        FOR rec IN c1 LOOP
                UPDATE set SET changedate = rec.changedate
                WHERE setnum = rec.setnum;
                Insert into set_temp select * from set where setnum = rec.setnum;
        END LOOP;
EXCEPTION
        WHEN NO_DATA_FOUND THEN
                NULL;
        WHEN OTHERS THEN
                error_string := 'My_CHANGEDATE - '||SUBSTR(SQLERRM,1,350);
                DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(error_string);
                RAISE;
END My_CHANGEDATE;My general recommendations are as follows:
1. Remove the CREATE TABLE from the procedure altogether.
2. Don't use reserved words for object names (e.g. SET)
3. Remove the record by record processing and consolidate it to a single UDPATE statement as follows (note untested):
UPDATE  set s
SET     changedate = (
                        SELECT  CHANGEDATE
                        FROM    SET A
                        ,       SETSO_T2 B
                        WHERE   A.SETNUM = B.SETNUM
                        AND     S.SETNUM = A.SETNUM
                        AND     TRUNC(A.CHANGEDATE) < TRUNC(B.CHANGEDATE)
WHERE EXISTS(
                SELECT  NULL
                FROM    SET A
                WHERE   A.SETNUM = S.SETNUM
                )HTH!