Out Varaible declaration inside Procedure

Question

I am having a question taht is ,Inside Stored Procedure what is the difference in seting the OUT Parameter inside Procedure as shown below :
create or replace PROCEDURE clearing_details(p_file_id in varchar2,_country_code OUT VARCHAR2_)
IS
CURSOR PD1 IS
SELECT COUNTRY_CODE FROM LINK_STATUS WHERE country_code = 'japan';
BEGIN
OPEN PD1;
LOOP
FETCH PD1 INTO country_code;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(country_code);
EXIT WHEN PD1%NOTFOUND;
END LOOP;
CLOSE PD1;
END ;
*2nd Approach :*
Here we use the OUT Variable inside the Declaration section
create or replace PROCEDURE clearing_details(p_file_id in varchar2)
IS
countrycode VARCHAR2(40);_
CURSOR PD1 IS
SELECT COUNTRY_CODE FROM LINK_STATUS WHERE country_code = 'pak';
BEGIN
OPEN PD1;
LOOP
FETCH PD1 INTO country_code;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(country_code);
EXIT WHEN PD1%NOTFOUND;
END LOOP;
CLOSE PD1;
END ;

Answer 1

Hi,
An OUT parameter is passed back to the calling routine.
Use OUT parameters in procedure clearing_details if whoever calls clearing_details needs to do some additional work based on the results of clearing_details (that is, if the calling program needs to see how clearing_details left country_code).
If clearing_details itself is doing all the work, then there's no need for an OUT parameter.