OracleConnection.createARRAY: Unable to resolve type

Question

Hi All,
for some good reasons (don't ask ...) I need to implement a solution where a directory listing, on the DB server machine, can be gotten via an sql query.
I have to say I am not very experienced with Java in Oracle, please forgive the newbie mistakes.
Environment: 11gR2 on Win7, SQLDeveloper as front-end.
In order to do this, I created a simple Java class, DB types and PL/SQL wrappers as follows:
CREATE OR REPLACE TYPE T_FS_ENTRY AS OBJECT (
  is_dir CHAR( 1 )
, entry_name VARCHAR2( 4000 )
, entry_size NUMBER
, last_modified NUMBER );
CREATE OR REPLACE TYPE T_FS_ENTRY_TAB IS TABLE OF T_FS_ENTRY;
I then created the Java class
CREATE OR REPLACE AND COMPILE java source named FSEntryReturn
as
  import java.sql.*;
  import java.util.*;
  import java.io.File;
  import oracle.jdbc.*;
  import oracle.sql.*;
  public class FSEntryReturn implements ORADataFactory, ORAData {
    private CHAR is_dir;
    private CHAR entry_name;
    private NUMBER entry_size;
    private NUMBER last_modified;
    public FSEntryReturn( OracleConnection conn
                        , String is_dir
                        , String entry_name
                        , long entry_size
                        , long last_modified )
    throws SQLException
        this.is_dir = new CHAR( is_dir, oracle.sql.CharacterSet.make( conn.getStructAttrCsId() ) );
        this.entry_name = new CHAR( entry_name, oracle.sql.CharacterSet.make( conn.getStructAttrCsId() ) );
        this.entry_size = new NUMBER( entry_size );
        this.last_modified = new NUMBER( last_modified );
    public FSEntryReturn( CHAR is_dir
                        , CHAR entry_name
                        , NUMBER entry_size
                        , NUMBER last_modified )
    throws SQLException
        this.is_dir = is_dir;
        this.entry_name = entry_name;
        this.entry_size = entry_size;
        this.last_modified = last_modified;
    public FSEntryReturn( Object[] attributes )
    throws SQLException {
      this( (CHAR)attributes[0]
          , (CHAR)attributes[1]
          , (NUMBER)attributes[2]
          , (NUMBER)attributes[3] );
    public FSEntryReturn( Datum d ) throws SQLException {
      this( ( (STRUCT)d).getOracleAttributes() );
    public ORAData create( Datum d, int sqlType ) throws SQLException {
      if(d == null) return null;
       else return new FSEntryReturn( d );
    public STRUCT toSTRUCT( Connection conn ) throws SQLException  {
      StructDescriptor sd = StructDescriptor.createDescriptor( "T_FS_ENTRY", conn );
      Object[] attributes = { is_dir, entry_name, entry_size, last_modified };
      return new STRUCT( sd, conn, attributes );
    public Datum toDatum( Connection conn ) throws SQLException {
      return toSTRUCT( conn );
    public static List<FSEntryReturn> getDirListImpl( OracleConnection conn, final String dirPath )
    throws SQLException
      List<FSEntryReturn> ret = new ArrayList<FSEntryReturn>();
      File dir = new File( dirPath );
      if( dir.isDirectory() ) {
        for( String fileName : dir.list() ) {
          File f = new File( dir, fileName );
          FSEntryReturn fsr = new FSEntryReturn( conn
                                               , (f.isDirectory() ? "1" : null)
                                               , fileName
                                               , f.length()
                                               , f.lastModified() );
          ret.add( fsr );
            } else
        throw new RuntimeException( "Path " + dirPath + " is not a directory" );
      return ret;
    public static ARRAY getDirList( final String dirPath )
    throws SQLException, ClassNotFoundException
      // initialize the connection
      OracleConnection conn = null;
      conn = (OracleConnection) ( new oracle.jdbc.OracleDriver() ).defaultConnection();
      FSEntryReturn[] retArray = getDirListImpl( conn, dirPath ).toArray( new FSEntryReturn[0] );
      // Map the java class to the Oracle type
      Map map = conn.getTypeMap();
      map.put("T_FS_ENTRY", Class.forName( "FSEntryReturn" ) );
      // ArrayDescriptor retArrayDesc = ArrayDescriptor.createDescriptor( "FPL_XSD.T_FS_ENTRY", conn );
      // create an Oracle collection on client side to use as parameter
      // ARRAY oracleCollection = new ARRAY( retArrayDesc, conn, retArray );
      ARRAY oracleCollection = conn.createARRAY( "T_FS_ENTRY", retArray );
      return oracleCollection;
Finally the wrapper:
create or replace PACKAGE QAO_SUPPORT
AS
  FUNCTION get_dir_list( p_dir IN VARCHAR2 )
  RETURN t_fs_entry_tab;
END QAO_SUPPORT;
create or replace PACKAGE BODY QAO_SUPPORT
AS
  FUNCTION get_dir_list( p_dir IN VARCHAR2 )
  RETURN t_fs_entry_tab
  AS LANGUAGE JAVA
  NAME 'FSEntryReturn.getDirList( java.lang.String ) return oracle.sql.ARRAY';
END QAO_SUPPORT;
At last I granted privileges on a directory:
BEGIN dbms_java.grant_permission( 'FPL_XSD', 'SYS:java.io.FilePermission', 'C:\-', 'read,write,execute' ); END;
COMMIT;
When I test this as FPL_XSD user, the same schema where the type, package and source are defined:
select * from table( QAO_SUPPORT.get_dir_list( 'C:\\TEMP' ) );
I get the following error (sorry for the dutch stuff, basically, "uncaught java exception: error in creation of descriptor:..."):
ORA-29532: Java-aanroep is afgesloten door niet-onderschepte Java-uitzondering: java.sql.SQLException: Maken van descriptor is mislukt.: Unable to resolve type: "FPL_XSD.T_FS_ENTRY".
ORA-06512: in "FPL_XSD.QAO_SUPPORT", regel 30
Even if it is not exactly stated the error happens at the line:
ARRAY oracleCollection = conn.createARRAY( "T_FS_ENTRY", retArray );
Note that when logged in as FPL_XSD, desc T_FS_ENTRY returns the type description.
I searched everywhere and consulted the documentation. I think it should work. I am out of ideas, but I have a suspect the problem might be with the connection configuration, maybe?
Any help or hint is greatly appreciated.
Kindly,
Andrea

Answer 1

Hi All,
I insisted trying and I found out what the problem was. In:
ARRAY oracleCollection = conn.createARRAY( "T_FS_ENTRY", retArray );
The first argument is an Oracle type name, I wrongly used the RECORD (OBJECT) type name - T_FS_ENTRY -, not the name of the nested table T_FS_ENTRY_TAB.
So the code should look like:
ARRAY oracleCollection = conn.createARRAY( "T_FS_ENTRY_TAB", retArray );
Which works.
//Andrea