MERGE using nested table doesn't work on Oracle 9i

Question

Hi,
Oracle 9i Enterprise Edition Release 9.2.0.4.0 on Red hat Linux
SQL> create table PERSONS (
  2    ID  number(9)
  3   ,SURNAME  varchar2(50)
  4   ,constraint PERSONS_PK primary key (ID)
  5  );
Table created.
SQL> create or replace type T_NUMBER_ARRAY as table of number;
  2  /
Type created.
SQL> create or replace procedure P_MRGTS2 (P_ID  PERSONS.ID%type)
  2  is
  3    L_IDS  T_NUMBER_ARRAY;
  4  begin
  5    L_IDS := T_NUMBER_ARRAY(P_ID);
  6    merge into PERSONS P using (select * from table(L_IDS)) D on (
  7      P.ID = D.COLUMN_VALUE
  8    )
  9    when matched then update
10      set SURNAME = 'Updated'
11    when not matched then
12      insert (
13        ID
14       ,SURNAME
15      )
16      values (
17        D.COLUMN_VALUE
18       ,'Inserted'
19      );
20  end;
21  /
Procedure created.
SQL> exec P_MRGTS2(1)
BEGIN P_MRGTS2(1,'Avi'); END;
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-22905: cannot access rows from a non-nested table item
ORA-06512: at "OPS$AABRAMI.P_MRGTS2", line 9
ORA-06512: at line 1However, the same code on Oracle 10g Release 10.2.0.1.0 on SUN Solaris 9 works.
Is there any way to make it work on Oracle 9i?
One way I found is the following:
procedure P_MRGTST (P_ID  PERSONS.ID%type)
is
  L_IDS  T_NUMBER_ARRAY;
begin
  L_IDS := T_NUMBER_ARRAY(P_ID);
  forall I in L_IDS.first..L_IDS.last
    merge into PERSONS P using DUAL D on (
      P.ID = L_IDS(I)
    when matched then update
      set SURNAME = 'Updated'
    when not matched then
      insert (
        ID
       ,SURNAME
      values (
        L_IDS(I)
       ,'Inserted'
end;On Oracle 10g there is negligible difference in time taken to execute both procedures, as displayed in SQL*Plus when issuing:
set timing onIs there something that makes one of the procedures preferrable over the other?
Thanks,
Avi.

Answer 1

Is there any way to make it work on Oracle 9i?
michaels>  select * from v$version
BANNER                                                         
Oracle9i Enterprise Edition Release 9.2.0.8.0 - 64bit Production
PL/SQL Release 9.2.0.8.0 - Production                          
CORE     9.2.0.8.0     Production                                      
TNS for HPUX: Version 9.2.0.8.0 - Production                   
NLSRTL Version 9.2.0.8.0 - Production                          
michaels>  create table persons (
    id  number(9)
       ,surname  varchar2(50)
          ,constraint persons_pk primary key (id)    )
Table created.
michaels>  create or replace type t_number_array as table of number;
Type created.
michaels>  create or replace procedure p_mrgts2 (p_id persons.id%type)
is
   l_ids   t_number_array;
begin
   l_ids := t_number_array (p_id);
   merge into persons p
      using (select * from table (cast (l_ids as t_number_array))) d
      on (p.id = d.column_value)
      when matched then
         update set surname = 'Updated'
      when not matched then
         insert (id, surname) values (d.column_value, 'Inserted');
end p_mrgts2;
Procedure created.
michaels>  exec p_mrgts2(1)
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
michaels>  select * from persons
        ID SURNAME                                          
         1 Inserted                                         
1 row selected.