Need to make function out of SQL

Question

It is always taxinig for me to write DDL? I have come up with a method but it requires that I know each fieldname of the table. Here is the DDL I've come up with:
--------- CREATE  A TABLE
CREATE TABLE  "MY_INV_MAIN"
      "STOREID" NUMBER NOT NULL
    , "BUSI_DATE" DATE NOT NULL
    , "PRIMARY_KEY" NUMBER NOT NULL
    , "CONF_NUMB1" NUMBER NOT NULL
    , ONF_NUMB2" NUMBER NOT NULL
--===  INSERT DATA   INV_MAIN
- -- Dates should be To_date functions
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'27-AUG-08',64143,12599.68,12599.68);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'28-AUG-08',64160,0,0);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'29-AUG-08',64222,3691.59,3691.59);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'30-AUG-08',64224,0,0);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'31-AUG-08',64273,22103.69,22103.69);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'01-SEP-08',64322,3836,3836);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'04-SEP-08',64380,5296.4,5296.4);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'05-SEP-08',64410,0,0);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'07-SEP-08',64496,22627.74,22627.74);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'08-SEP-08',64559,10376.61,10376.61);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'09-SEP-08',64575,2644.62,2644.62);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'11-SEP-08',64627,5983.33,5983.33);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'13-SEP-08',64677,7573.21,7573.21);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'14-SEP-08',64743,22839.3,22839.3);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'17-SEP-08',64817,11593.69,11593.69);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'18-SEP-08',64835,2958.97,2958.97);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'19-SEP-08',64869,3570.74,3570.74);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'20-SEP-08',64896,0,0);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'21-SEP-08',64984,0,0);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'21-SEP-08',64992,21372.82,21372.82);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'22-SEP-08',64995,2927.13,2927.13);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'23-SEP-08',65021,2712.38,2712.38);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'24-SEP-08',65038,0,0);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'26-SEP-08',65091,6763.8,6763.8);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'27-SEP-08',65130,4985.73,4985.73);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'28-SEP-08',65197,24950.45,24950.45);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'28-SEP-08',65199,4648.38,4648.38);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'30-AUG-09',74146,18081.37,18081.37);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'06-SEP-09',74253,17183.25,17183.25);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'13-SEP-09',74454,17688.41,17688.41);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'20-SEP-09',74599,18211.29,18211.29);
INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'27-SEP-09',74722,16809.21,16809.21);
--=== GENERATE INSERT STATEMENTS
WITH MyTableColumns AS
    SELECT    TNAME  as tablename
           ,  CNAME  as columnname
FROM COL
where tNAME in ('MY_INV_MAIN')
ORDER BY TNAME
, Pivoted_Table as
( select    tablename
       ,  MAX(DECODE(columnname,   'STOREID',       columnname,  0 ))    STOREID
       ,  MAX(DECODE(columnname,   'BUSI_DATE',     columnname,  0 ))    BUSI_DATE
       ,  MAX(DECODE(columnname,   'PRIMARY_KEY',   columnname,  0 ))    PRIMARY_KEY
       ,  MAX(DECODE(columnname,   'CONF_NUMB1',    columnname,  0 ))    CONF_NUMB1
       ,  MAX(DECODE(columnname,   'CONF_NUMB2',    columnname,  0 ))    CONF_NUMB2
    FROM MyTableColumns
    group by tablename
, MyInsertStatments as
   (SELECT    'INSERT INTO ' ||
          tablename ||
          ' VALUES ('   ||
          STOREID      || ',' ||
          BUSI_DATE    || ',' ||
          PRIMARY_KEY  || ',' ||
          CONF_NUMB1   || ',' ||
          CONF_NUMB2   || ') FROM  ' || tablename || ';'  as INSERT_CLAUSE
FROM  Pivoted_table;
  END FUNCTION1) How can I write this code as a function
FUNCTION ReturnInsertStatements(tablename in varchar2,
delimitedStringOfColumns in varchar2 default null) as varchar2
-- Reads columns of the table like in above SQL
-- Generate Inserts
And return a string of 'Create Table Code " & InsertStatements in a format (INSERT INTO MY_INV_MAIN VALUES(141,'27-SEP-09',74722,16809.21,16809.21);

Answer 1

TheHTMLDJ wrote:
Tubby wrote:
Why would you want pl/sql code to do this? There are much more efficient tools with which to move data between databases.
1. I was trying to flex my new knowledge of pivots.
2) I found this one which seems pretty good except line wraps and makes inserts messy:
http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/PL_SQL/PLSQL_5.shtml
Nothing i tried would prevent the problem. CAn you fix or do you have a suggestion on some other free tool. In the rare occasion i need to move data in this fashion (typically i'd be looking at data pump, imp/exp, database links, etc...) i just use [SQL Developer|http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/products/sql/index.html] which is free and actually pretty good (developer wise).
>
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Also as a tip, you should always specify the columns you're using in the INSERT.
I don't see why that's necessary when you are populating all fields with data.Because if you create code to do this, how do you know the order of the columns in the table? At best you get lucky and get an ORA error (like trying to put a date in to a number field), at worst you put the wrong columns data into another column and it goes unnoticed.