Oracle 8i and stored procedures

Question

Hi I was hoping someone could point me to the right direction here.
I have been using SQL server before and often use stored procedures. I understand that if you want to use stored procedures you will use the CallableStatement object and the prepareCall method of the Connection object like so:
let's say my stored proc has 2 number parameters:
CallableStatement cs = con.prepareCall( " { call <stored_proc_name> (?, ?) } );
cs.getString(1, 1);
cs.getString(2, 2);
ResultSet rs = cs.executeQuery( );
where con is my connection object that i used to connect to my database. So far am I right with the following code?
But my problem is I have to use Oracle 8i. So what is the equivalent of SQL server stored procs in Oracle? Is it functions? Procedures? Or Java Stored Procedures? I have been reading all these sites and the forums for ideas but still haev no clue what approach I should take
I have managed to connect to my db using the thin drivers and have successfully passed SQL statements. Although, I don't want to pass SQL statements, I want to use stored procedures. With SQL server I would create all my stored procedures and use my beans to call these stored procedures. So as a new user of Oracle 8i coming form SQL server, what approach do I use and how?
Thanks in advance for all the help!

Answer 1

Alright well looks like I'm stuck now.
This seems more like a PL\SQL question though. If I want to return 2 or more values do I use function or a procedure? here's the code I made:
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION sign_in(username VARCHAR(20), userpassword VARCHAR(20))
RETURN NUMBER IS id_num NUMBER, user_type VARCHAR(1);
BEGIN
SELECT * INTO id_num, user_type
FROM ID_MASTER idm, PERSON prs
WHERE USERNAME = username
AND USER_PASSWORD = userpassword
AND idm.ID_NUM = prs.ID_NUM;
RETURN id_num, user_type;
END;
now according to Oracle this is an invalid function. But the error message doesn't say much. Basically I want to pass 2 parameters to use for a query and return 2 variables from the result of the query. Am I suppose to use a procedure?
If I pass paramters do which string do I use to prepareCall: "{ ? = CALL sign_in (?, ?) }" or do I use the "{ CALL sign_in (?, ?) }"
But my problem right now is how to make the proper stored procedure. I'd be very much obliged to anyone who can give a sample. Thank you all for your time!