Function which returns multiple values that can then be used in an SQL Sele

Question

I'd like to create a function which returns multiple values that can then be used in an SQL Select statement's IN( ) clause
Currently, the select statement is like (well, this is a very simplified version):
select application, clientid
from tbl_apps, tbl_status
where tbl_apps.statusid = tbl_status.statusid
and tbl_status.approved > 0;
I'd like to pull the checking of the tbl_status into a PL/SQL function so my select would look something like :
select application, clientid
from tbl_apps
where tbl_apps.statusid in (myfunction);
So my function would be running this sql:
select statusid from tbl_status where approved > 0;
... will return values 1, 5, 15, 32 (and more)
... but I haven't been able to figure out how to return the results so they can be used in SQL.
Thanks for any help you can give me!!
Trisha Gorr

Answer 1

Perhaps take a look at pipelined functions:
Single column example:
SQL> CREATE OR REPLACE TYPE split_tbl IS TABLE OF VARCHAR2(32767);
  2  /
Type created.
SQL> CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION split (p_list VARCHAR2, p_delim VARCHAR2:=' ') RETURN SPLIT_TBL PIPELINED IS
  2      l_idx    PLS_INTEGER;
  3      l_list   VARCHAR2(32767) := p_list;
  4      l_value  VARCHAR2(32767);
  5    BEGIN
  6      LOOP
  7        l_idx := INSTR(l_list, p_delim);
  8        IF l_idx > 0 THEN
  9          PIPE ROW(SUBSTR(l_list, 1, l_idx-1));
10          l_list := SUBSTR(l_list, l_idx+LENGTH(p_delim));
11        ELSE
12          PIPE ROW(l_list);
13          EXIT;
14        END IF;
15      END LOOP;
16      RETURN;
17    END SPLIT;
18  /
Function created.
SQL> SELECT column_value
  2  FROM TABLE(split('FRED,JIM,BOB,TED,MARK',','));
COLUMN_VALUE
FRED
JIM
BOB
TED
MARK
SQL> create table mytable (val VARCHAR2(20));
Table created.
SQL> insert into mytable
  2  select column_value
  3  from TABLE(split('FRED,JIM,BOB,TED,MARK',','));
5 rows created.
SQL> select * from mytable;
VAL
FRED
JIM
BOB
TED
MARK
SQL>Multiple column example:
SQL> CREATE OR REPLACE TYPE myrec AS OBJECT
  2  ( col1   VARCHAR2(10),
  3    col2   VARCHAR2(10)
  4  )
  5  /
Type created.
SQL>
SQL> CREATE OR REPLACE TYPE myrectable AS TABLE OF myrec
  2  /
Type created.
SQL>
SQL> CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION pipedata(p_str IN VARCHAR2) RETURN myrectable PIPELINED IS
  2    v_str VARCHAR2(4000) := REPLACE(REPLACE(p_str, '('),')');
  3    v_obj myrec := myrec(NULL,NULL);
  4  BEGIN
  5    LOOP
  6      EXIT WHEN v_str IS NULL;
  7      v_obj.col1 := SUBSTR(v_str,1,INSTR(v_str,',')-1);
  8      v_str := SUBSTR(v_str,INSTR(v_str,',')+1);
  9      IF INSTR(v_str,',')>0 THEN
10        v_obj.col2 := SUBSTR(v_str,1,INSTR(v_str,',')-1);
11        v_str := SUBSTR(v_str,INSTR(v_str,',')+1);
12      ELSE
13        v_obj.col2 := v_str;
14        v_str := NULL;
15      END IF;
16      PIPE ROW (v_obj);
17    END LOOP;
18    RETURN;
19  END;
20  /
Function created.
SQL>
SQL> create table mytab (col1 varchar2(10), col2 varchar2(10));
Table created.
SQL>
SQL> insert into mytab (col1, col2) select col1, col2 from table(pipedata('(1,2),(2,3),(4,5)'));
3 rows created.
SQL>
SQL> select * from mytab;
COL1       COL2
1          2
2          3
4          5