Passing Array of java objects to and from oracle database-Complete Example

Question

Hi all ,
I am posting a working example of Passing Array of java objects to and from oracle database . I have struggled a lot to get it working and since finally its working , postinmg it here so that it coudl be helpful to the rest of the folks.
First thinsg first
i) Create a Java Value Object which you want to pass .
create or replace and compile java source named Person as
import java.sql.*;
import java.io.*;
public class Person implements SQLData
private String sql_type = "PERSON_T";
public int person_id;
public String person_name;
public Person () {}
public String getSQLTypeName() throws SQLException { return sql_type; }
public void readSQL(SQLInput stream, String typeName) throws SQLException
sql_type = typeName;
person_id = stream.readInt();
person_name = stream.readString();
public void writeSQL(SQLOutput stream) throws SQLException
stream.writeInt (person_id);
stream.writeString (person_name);
ii) Once you created a Java class compile this class in sql plus. Just Copy paste and run it in SQL .
you should see a message called "Java created."
iii) Now create your object Types
CREATE TYPE person_t AS OBJECT
EXTERNAL NAME 'Person' LANGUAGE JAVA
USING SQLData (
person_id NUMBER(9) EXTERNAL NAME 'person_id',
person_name VARCHAR2(30) EXTERNAL NAME 'person_name'
iv) Now create a table of Objects
CREATE TYPE person_tab IS TABLE OF person_t;
v) Now create your procedure . Ensure that you create dummy table called "person_test" for loggiing values.
create or replace
procedure give_me_an_array( p_array in person_tab,p_arrayout out person_tab)
as
l_person_id Number;
l_person_name Varchar2(200);
l_person person_t;
l_p_arrayout person_tab;
errm Varchar2(2000);
begin
     l_p_arrayout := person_tab();
for i in 1 .. p_array.count
loop
     l_p_arrayout.extend;
     insert into person_test values(p_array(i).person_id, 'in Record '||p_array(i).person_name);
     l_person_id := p_array(i).person_id;
     l_person_name := p_array(i).person_name;
     l_person := person_t(null,null);
     l_person.person_id := l_person_id + 5;
     l_person.person_name := 'Out Record ' ||l_person_name ;
     l_p_arrayout(i) := l_person;
end loop;
p_arrayout := l_p_arrayout;
     l_person_id := p_arrayout.count;
for i in 1 .. p_arrayout.count
loop
insert into person_test values(l_person_id, p_arrayout(i).person_name);
end loop;
commit;
EXCEPTION WHEN OTHERS THEN
     errm := SQLERRM;
     insert into person_test values(-1, errm);
     commit;
end;
vi) Now finally create your java class which will invoke the pl/sql procedure and get the updated value array and then display it on your screen>Alternatively you can also check the "person_test" tbale
import java.util.Date;
import java.io.*;
import java.sql.*;
import oracle.sql.*;
import oracle.jdbc.driver.*;
import java.text.DateFormat;
import java.text.ParseException;
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
public class ArrayDemo
public static void passArray() throws SQLException
Connection conn = getConnection();
ArrayDemo a = new ArrayDemo();
Person pn1 = new Person();
pn1.person_id = 1;
pn1.person_name = "SunilKumar";
Person pn2 = new Person();
pn2.person_id = 2;
pn2.person_name = "Superb";
Person pn3 = new Person();
pn3.person_id = 31;
pn3.person_name = "Outstanding";
Person[] P_arr = {pn1, pn2, pn3};
Person[] P_arr_out = new Person[3];
ArrayDescriptor descriptor =
ArrayDescriptor.createDescriptor( "PERSON_TAB", conn );
ARRAY array_to_pass =
new ARRAY( descriptor, conn, P_arr);
OracleCallableStatement ps =
(OracleCallableStatement )conn.prepareCall
( "begin give_me_an_array(?,?); end;" );
ps.setARRAY( 1, array_to_pass );
     ps.registerOutParameter( 2, OracleTypes.ARRAY,"PERSON_TAB" );
     ps.execute();
     oracle.sql.ARRAY returnArray = (oracle.sql.ARRAY)ps.getArray(2);
Object[] personDetails = (Object[]) returnArray.getArray();
Person person_record = new Person();
for (int i = 0; i < personDetails.length; i++) {
          person_record = (Person)personDetails;
          System.out.println( "row " + i + " = '" + person_record.person_name +"'" );
                    public static void main (String args[]){
     try
                         ArrayDemo tfc = new ArrayDemo();
                         tfc.passArray();
     catch(Exception e) {
                    e.printStackTrace();
          public static Connection getConnection() {
     try
                         Class.forName ("oracle.jdbc.OracleDriver");
                         return DriverManager.getConnection("jdbc:oracle:thin:@<<HostNanem>>:1523:VIS",
                         "username", "password");
     catch(Exception SQLe) {
                    System.out.println("IN EXCEPTION BLOCK ");
                    return null;
and thats it. you are done.
Hope it atleast helps people to get started. Comments are appreciated. I can be reached at ([email protected]) or [email protected]
Thanks
Sunil.s

Answer 1

Hi Sunil,
I've a similar situation where I'm trying to insert Java objects in db using bulk insert. My issue is with performance for which I've created a new thread.
http://forum.java.sun.com/thread.jspa?threadID=5270260&tstart=30
I ran into your code and looked into it. You've used the Person object array and directly passing it to the oracle.sql.ARRAY constructor. Just curios if this works, cos my understanding is that you need to create a oracle.sql.STRUCT out of ur java object collection and pass it to the ARRAY constructor. I tried ur way but got this runtime exception.
java.sql.SQLException: Fail to convert to internal representation: JavaBulkInsertNew$Option@10bbf9e
                    at oracle.jdbc.driver.DatabaseError.throwSqlException(DatabaseError.java:112)
                    at oracle.jdbc.driver.DatabaseError.throwSqlException(DatabaseError.java:146)
                    at oracle.jdbc.oracore.OracleTypeADT.toDatum(OracleTypeADT.java:239)
                    at oracle.jdbc.oracore.OracleTypeADT.toDatumArray(OracleTypeADT.java:274)
                    at oracle.jdbc.oracore.OracleTypeUPT.toDatumArray(OracleTypeUPT.java:115)
                    at oracle.sql.ArrayDescriptor.toOracleArray(ArrayDescriptor.java:1314)
                    at oracle.sql.ARRAY.<init>(ARRAY.java:152)
                    at JavaBulkInsertNew.main(JavaBulkInsertNew.java:76)
Here's a code snippet I used :
Object optionVal[] =   {optionArr[0]};   // optionArr[0] is an Option object which has three properties
oracle.sql.ArrayDescriptor empArrayDescriptor = oracle.sql.ArrayDescriptor.createDescriptor("TT_EMP_TEST",conn);
ARRAY empArray = new ARRAY(empArrayDescriptor,conn,optionVal);If you visit my thread, u'll see that I'm using STRUCT and then pass it to the ARRAY constructor, which works well, except for the performance issue.
I'll appreciate if you can provide some information.
Regards,
Shamik