How can I transfer a variable to regexp_replace function

Question

Hi,
In addition to my question from yesterday, I went up one (little) level for the next question.
How can I transfer a variable to regexp_replace function?
I am getting the value of the variables from from APEX Items.
The value of item :P105_OLD_NAME should be replaced with the value from :P105_NAME APEX item.
The projects in PROJECT_NAME field are separated by “:”
select * from infoux_proj;
HOSTNAME PROJECT_NAME
host1 proj2:proj1
host3 proj1
host4 proj12:proj1
host5 proj3
host2 proj1:proj3:sunproj1
this is my code:
declare
v_old_proj_list varchar(100);
v_new_proj_list varchar(100);
begin
for host in (select a.hostname, project_name
from infoux_proj a,
(select hostname
from PROJECT_NAMES_WITH_HOSTNAMES
where name = :P105_OLD_NAME ) b
where a.HOSTNAME=b.hostname)
loop
select project_name ,
regexp_replace(project_name,'(^|:)(:P105_OLD_NAME)(:|$)','\1:P105_NAME \3') new_project
into v_old_proj_list, v_new_proj_list
from infoux_proj
where hostname=host.hostname;
update infoux_proj
set project_name=v_new_proj_list
where hostname=host.hostname;
end loop;
end;
Thanks,
Sheli

Answer 1

Hi, Sheli
Inside quotes, :p105_old_name will not be taken as a variable name. If you want to use the value of :p105_old_name in a string which its otherwise a literal, then you can concatenate the variable to the literal parts, using the || operator.
You can do soemthing like this:
REGEXP_REPLACE ( project_name
            , '(^|:)(' || :P105_OLD_NAME
                         || ')(:|$)'
            , '\1'       || :P105_NAME
                         || ' \3'
            )               AS new_projectI'll bet there's a much simpler way to do what you want. Instead of having two SELECTs, a cursor FOR loop and an UPDATE, you can probably do what you need to with just a single UPDATE or MERGE. It would be more efficient, too. If you'd like help, post CREATE TABLE and INSERT statements for all relevant tables and columns azs the exist before this code is run, a couple of sets of values for the bind variables, and the results you'd like to see (that is, the contents of the changed table) for each set, given the same sample data.
Always say which version of Oracle you're using.