Oracle how to assign a date value in a parameter declaration

Question

How can I assign a date value to a parameter declaration in SQL?
Here's my existing script.
CURRENT:
select distinct summary as "iCash EAD Error Summary",count(*)
from AAA.BKS_ICASH_EAD_ERRORS
where creation_date > to_date('5/26/12 8:50','mm/dd/yy HH24:MI')
group by summary
I'd like to assign the date I'm searching for into a parameter and use the parameter in my query.
GOAL:
DECLARE
pCreateDate DATE;
exec :pCreateDate := '5/26/12 8:50';
select distinct summary as "iCash EAD Error Summary",count(*)
from AAA.BKS_ICASH_EAD_ERRORS
where creation_date > to_date(:pCreateDate,'mm/dd/yy HH24:MI')
group by summary

Answer 1

Hi,
In SQL*Plus, you can do this:
VARIABLE     pcreatdate     VARCHAR2 (20)
EXEC           :pcreatedate := '5/26/12 8:50';
SELECT    summary          AS "iCash EAD Error Summary"
,       COUNT (*)          AS "Total Count"
FROM        aaa.bks_icash_ead_errors
WHERE       creation_date  > TO_DATE (:pcreatedate, 'MM/DD/RRRR HH24:MI')
GROUP BY  summary
;"GROUP BY summary" means you'll get one output row for each distinct value of summary. There's no need to SELECT DISTINCT since the GROUP BY is already making sure the rows are distinct.
There are no DATE bind variables in SQL*Plus, so you have to use a VARCHAR2.
If you do something similar in PL/SQL, then you can use a DATE variable. Make sure you don't call TO_DATE on something that's already a DATE.
Edited by: Frank Kulash on Jun 26, 2012 2:01 PM