Function to find out datatype of a variable

Question

hi
can anyone tell me a function that can find out what type of datatype a variable belongs to...
thank u
rajiv

Answer 1

You can overload the function in a package.
SQL> create or replace package say_kids as
  2    function what_type_is_it (p number) return varchar2;
  3    function what_type_is_it (p varchar2) return varchar2;
  4    function what_type_is_it (p date) return varchar2;
  5    function what_type_is_it (p sys_refcursor) return varchar2;
  6  end;
  7  /
Package created.
SQL> create or replace package body say_kids as
  2    function what_type_is_it (p number) return varchar2 is
  3    begin
  4      return 'It''s a number.';
  5    end;
  6    function what_type_is_it (p varchar2) return varchar2 is
  7    begin
  8      return 'It''s a string.';
  9    end;
10    function what_type_is_it (p date) return varchar2 is
11    begin
12      return 'It''s a date.';
13    end;
14    function what_type_is_it (p sys_refcursor) return varchar2 is
15    begin
16      return 'It''s a cursor.';
17    end;
18  end;
19  /
Package body created.
SQL> select say_kids.what_type_is_it ( 1 ) from dual;
SAY_KIDS.WHAT_TYPE_IS_IT(1)
It's a number.
SQL> select say_kids.what_type_is_it ( 'test' ) from dual;
SAY_KIDS.WHAT_TYPE_IS_IT('TEST')
It's a string.
SQL> select say_kids.what_type_is_it ( sysdate ) from dual;
SAY_KIDS.WHAT_TYPE_IS_IT(SYSDATE)
It's a date.
SQL> var c refcursor
SQL> select say_kids.what_type_is_it ( :c ) from dual;
SAY_KIDS.WHAT_TYPE_IS_IT(:C)
It's a cursor.
SQL>