Private function / procedure to be used with in a package

Question

Hi All
I wanted to find out how would the definition be for a function which is defined so as to be used/called by the other functions / procedures with in a particular pakage and should not be visible/accessible for any other routine out side the package in which it is defined..
could you please advice me on this? Thanks!
Sarat

Answer 1

It is possible: you can nest one function/procedure in another:
SQL>CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION sum_squares(
  2     p_a   IN   NUMBER,
  3     p_b   IN   NUMBER)
  4     RETURN NUMBER
  5  IS
  6     FUNCTION square(
  7        p_n   IN   NUMBER)
  8        RETURN NUMBER
  9     IS
10     BEGIN
11        RETURN p_n * p_n;
12     END square;
13  BEGIN
14     RETURN square(p_a) + square(p_b);
15  END sum_squares;
16  /
Function created.
SQL>SELECT sum_squares(3, 4) FROM dual;
SUM_SQUARES(3,4)
              25Urs