PL/SQL Record Type to XMLType

Question

Hi,
I wanted to convert a pl/sql record type automatically with just one command using xmltype.createXML but I am wondering if anyone out there has used it this way or whether it is possible. I can't find any examples anywhere, and I didn't really want to do the hard work of doing it one element at a time using xmlelement & xmlattributes :-).....
e.g.,
l_record emp%rowtype;
l_xml xmltype;
begin
for l_record in (select * from emp)
loop
l_xml := xmltype.convertXML (l_record) ; --> is this possible?? I can do it on a cursor but it doesn't seem to like it if its a record type
end loop;
Thanks in anticipation.
M
Edited by: user12097147 on 3/11/2009 16:48

Answer 1

You cannot pass just any record structure to a procedure and expects it to determine its structure and contents and give you XML in return.
Also when you call XMLTYPE(), you are essentially instantiating an object - and calling the constructor method of that class. There are a number of constructors that have different parameter signatures.
If you want XML from a table, then you should be using XML functions.. in the following fashion (there's a number of approaches you can use, depending on your requirements) :
SQL> select xmlElement( "Employee", xmlForest(e.empno, e.ename,e.job) ) as XML from emp e order by e.empno;
XML
<Employee><EMPNO>7369</EMPNO><ENAME>SMITH</ENAME><JOB>CLERK</JOB></Employee>
<Employee><EMPNO>7499</EMPNO><ENAME>ALLEN</ENAME><JOB>SALESMAN</JOB></Employee>
<Employee><EMPNO>7521</EMPNO><ENAME>WARD</ENAME><JOB>SALESMAN</JOB></Employee>
<Employee><EMPNO>7566</EMPNO><ENAME>JONES</ENAME><JOB>MANAGER</JOB></Employee>
<Employee><EMPNO>7654</EMPNO><ENAME>MARTIN</ENAME><JOB>SALESMAN</JOB></Employee>
<Employee><EMPNO>7698</EMPNO><ENAME>BLAKE</ENAME><JOB>MANAGER</JOB></Employee>
<Employee><EMPNO>7782</EMPNO><ENAME>CLARK</ENAME><JOB>MANAGER</JOB></Employee>
<Employee><EMPNO>7788</EMPNO><ENAME>SCOTT</ENAME><JOB>ANALYST</JOB></Employee>
<Employee><EMPNO>7839</EMPNO><ENAME>KING</ENAME><JOB>PRESIDENT</JOB></Employee>
<Employee><EMPNO>7844</EMPNO><ENAME>TURNER</ENAME><JOB>SALESMAN</JOB></Employee>
<Employee><EMPNO>7876</EMPNO><ENAME>ADAMS</ENAME><JOB>CLERK</JOB></Employee>
<Employee><EMPNO>7900</EMPNO><ENAME>JAMES</ENAME><JOB>CLERK</JOB></Employee>
<Employee><EMPNO>7902</EMPNO><ENAME>FORD</ENAME><JOB>ANALYST</JOB></Employee>
<Employee><EMPNO>7934</EMPNO><ENAME>MILLER</ENAME><JOB>CLERK</JOB></Employee>
14 rows selected.