How to create a record structure dynamically

Question

Hi,
I would like to create a record structure dynamically in the body of my pl/sql procedure.
I don't want to create the structure in the declaration because my record structure depends on some parameters that the procedure will receive.
Thank you

Answer 1

> I would like to create a record structure dynamically in the body of my pl/sql procedure
Terrible idea. Why? Because if the structure is dynamic then you need to write pretty complex code to handle this structure that could be anything. Complex code means buggy code. Inconsistent code. Weird run-time errors. Etc.
Yes, you can create dynamic "structures" - for example, you can create a user defined type that at execution time can decide what properties it has. Similar to a an object in an o-o language that has a RTTI (Run Time Type Information) interface.
But this is complex. And what did I say about complex code above? Not the best of ideas most of the time.
There is however a very easy way to deal with dynamic data via a "dynamic" structure that is in fact a statically defined structure. Arrays aka collections aka associative arrays.
E.g.
create or replace type TStrings as table of varchar2(4000);
Using this I can create a SQL statement (cursor) on any table, with any predicates, and pass the results (dynamic list of columns) to a procedure for processing:
select TStrings(object_id,object_type,object_name) as DYNAMIC_LIST from user_objects order by object_type, object_name
Using this I can create a procedure that accepts a dynamic list of values and process these:
create or replace procedure DynamicProcess( list TStrings ) as ...
So when thinking "dynamic structures" - think it through carefully. There is a difference between an UNKNOWN structure and a DYNAMIC structure.
The former needs a RTTI interface. You have no idea what the structure contains. You need an interface to call in order for it to describe the structure for you. This is complex stuff.
The latter means that you know the structure as it is pre-defined (statically defined). At run-time, it can contain any number of elements - thus making the structure dynamic. This is easy stuff.
I would rather go for the easy stuff than the complex stuff any time of the day - even when on my 3rd cup of coffee...