Need Help: Using Ref Cursor in ProC to call a function within a Package

Question

I'm calling a function within a package that is returning a REF CURSOR.
As per the Oracle Pro*C Programmer's Guide, I did the following:
1) declared my cursor with a: EXEC SQL BEGIN DECLARE SECTION and declared the cursor as: SQL_CURSOR my_cursor;
2) I allocated the cursor as: EXEC SQL ALLOCATE :my_cursor;
3) Via a EXEC SQL.....END-EXEC begin block
I called the package function and assign the return value to my cursor
e.g. my_cursor := package.function(:host1, :host2);
Now, the only difference between my code and the example given in the Pro*C Programmer's Guide is that the example calls a PROCEDURE within a package that passes back the REF CURSOR as an OUT host variable.
Whereas, since I am calling a function, the function ASSIGNS the return REF CURSOR in the return value.
If I say my_cursor := package.function(:host1, :host2); I get a message stating, "PLS-00201: identifier MY_CURSOR" must be declared"
If I say :my_cursor := package.function(:host1, :host2); I get a message stating, "ORA-01480: trailing null missing from STR bind value"
I just want to call a package function and assign the return value to a REF CURSOR variable. There must be a way of doing this. I can do this easily in standard PL/SQL. How can this be done in Pro*C ???
Thanks for any help.

Answer 1

Folks, I figured it out. For those who may face this problem in the future you may want to take note for future reference.
Oracle does not allow you to assign the return value of a REF CURSOR from a FUNCTION ( not Procedure - - there is a difference) directly to a host variable. This is the case even if that host variable is declared a CURSOR variable.
The trick is as follows: Declare the REF CURSOR within the PL/SQL BEGIN Block, using the TYPE statement, that will contain the call to the package function. On the call, you then assign the return REF CURSOR value that the function is returning to your REF CURSOR variable declared in the DECLARE section of the EXEC SQL .... END-EXEC PL/SQL Block.
THEN, assign the REF CURSOR variable that was populated from the function call to your HOST cursor varaible. Then fetch this HOST Cursor variable into your Host record structure variable. Then you can deference individual fields as need be within your C or C++ code.
I hope this will help someone facing a deadline crunch. Happy computing !