Doubt with Function

Question

Hi all,i am trying to create a function as shown below.
SELECT rcv.quantity "Receiving Quantity"
--INTO   v_qty                          (variable)
FROM   rcv_shipment_headers rsh,
       rcv_shipment_lines   rsl,
       rcv_transactions rcv
WHERE  rsh.receipt_source_code = 'VENDOR'
AND    rsh.shipment_num =  'JAN1008'         -- p_file_number(parameter to function)
AND    rsh.shipment_header_id = rsl.shipment_header_id
AND    rcv.organization_id = 81
AND    rcv.transaction_type = 'RECEIVE'
AND    rsh.shipment_header_id = rcv.shipment_header_id
AND    rcv.shipment_line_id = rsl.shipment_line_id;
--AND    rsl.item_id = p_item_id;The above query returns two values,but as i assigned a variable to the function i could only get one value.Can someone guide me how to return multiple values from the above query into a variable(v_qty).
Any help is appreciated,
Thanks in advance!!

Answer 1

Suri wrote:
Thanks for correcting me. But I didnt understand completely. Can you please explain me indetail what do you mean by STANDARD ARRAY ? If possible can you post a small script. Thanks a ton in advance.
SQL> declare
  2          --// associative array
  3          type TArr1 is table of varchar2(10) index by pls_integer;
  4 
  5          --// standard array
  6          type TArr2 is table of varchar2(10);
  7 
  8          arr1    TArr1;
  9          arr2    TArr2;
10  begin
11          --// associative arrays are name-value pairs
12          arr1(100) := 'name1';   --// 100=name1
13          arr1(1) := 'name2';     --// 1=name2
14 
15 
16          --// standard arrays are sequential lists
17          --// of values
18          arr2 := new TArr2( 'name1', 'name2' );
19  end;
20  /
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
SQL> In the above example, you cannot iterate through the associative array using a sequential number. E.g. the following does not work:
SQL> declare
  2          type TArr1 is table of varchar2(10) index by pls_integer;
  3          arr1    TArr1;
  4  begin
  5          arr1(100) := 'name1';
  6          arr1(1) := 'name2';
  7 
  8          for i in 1..arr1.Count loop
  9                  dbms_output.put_line( i||'='||arr1(i) );
10          end loop;
11  end;
12  /
1=name2
declare
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01403: no data found
ORA-06512: at line 9The reason is that there is no name-value called "+2+" in the array. And name-value "+1+" was the LAST entry in the array too. The first name-value is "+100+".
So it does not make sense to use an associative array as a sequential array - where the 1st item in the array is referenced using 1, the 2nd item is referenced using 2 and so on.
What does make sense is using a standard array instead. As the reference used to access items in the array, is basically the address (offset) of the item in the array. The address of the 1st item in the array is 1. The address of the 2nd item in the array is 2. Etc.
SQL> declare
  2          type TArr2 is table of varchar2(10);
  3          arr2    TArr2;
  4  begin
  5          arr2 := new TArr2( 'name1', 'name2' );
  6 
  7          for i in 1..arr2.Count loop
  8                  dbms_output.put_line( i||'='||arr2(i) );
  9          end loop;
10  end;
11  /
1=name1
2=name2
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
SQL> And this is exactly what is required for a bulk collection and bulk processing - sequential addressing of items in the array. Not name-value pairs where an item value is addressed by its associated item name.
This is an important difference between the two types of array. And one does not seem to be readily understood by developers, resulting in most usage of associative arrays in PL/SQL being incorrect - especially when used for bulk collection.