How to execute a function and return the result into a bind variable

Question

Hi,
I am trying to calculate the sum of salaries of all persons with a particular JOB_ID using a function TOTAL_INCOME(v_job_id).
create or replace function total_income
+(v_job_id IN varchar2)+
RETURN number IS
v_total number(6);
cursor get_sal is
select salary from employees
where job_id = v_job_id;
BEGIN
v_total := 0;
for emp in get_sal
loop
v_total := v_total emp.salary;+
end loop;
dbms_output.put_line('Total salary of '||v_job_id||' is: '|| v_total);
return v_total;
END;
Now I woud like to execute this function and assign the returned value into a bind variable test_sal
variable test_sal number(6)
SELECT total_income('AD_VP') into :test_sal FROM DUAL;
dbms_output.put_line('Total Sal:'||:test_sal);
This is returning the below errors:
SELECT total_income('AD_VP') into :test_sal FROM DUAL
*+
Error at line 0
ORA-01036: illegal variable name/number
dbms_output.put_line('Total Sal:'||:test_sal);
Error at line 3
ORA-00900: invalid SQL statement
Could someone help me what could be the problem?? Thanks for your time...

Answer 1

Dear,
If everything you will do will be done inside PL/SQL (stored procedure or stored function) then you don't have to care about bind variable.
When using PL/SQL (static SQL) you will never encounter issues related to bind variables. PL/SQL itself takes care of your code and uses bind variables behind the scene.
The only situation where you have to look carefully to the use of bind variables within PL/SQL is when you use Dynamic sql into stored procedures or functions.
So, see in the light of the above comment, if you have to care about returning your function into a bind variable?
Best regards
Mohamed Houri