Problems binding array in C# to stored procedure.

Question

I'm having trouble trying to pass an array of ID's to a stored procedure that is expecting an array (listed the procedure definition below). My current interface doesn't return an error, but it also doesn't insert the proper id's.
STORED PROCEDURE DEFINITION:
TYPE source_ids IS TABLE OF wweb.DM_ASSOCIATIONS.source_id%TYPE INDEX BY PLS_INTEGER;
PROCEDURE add_message_associations
(p_dm_message_id IN wweb.dm_messages.dm_message_id%TYPE
,p_association_type IN wweb.dm_associations.association_type%TYPE
,p_sources IN source_ids
,p_create_user IN wweb.dm_associations.create_user%TYPE)
.......variable definitions here...
v_source_id := p_sources.First;
WHILE v_source_id IS NOT NULL
LOOP
-- Check if this association already exists.
-- If not add them.
v_assoc_exists := 0;
FOR r_chk IN
(SELECT 1 AS assoc_exists_flag
FROM dm_associations a
WHERE a.dm_message_id = p_dm_message_id
AND a.association_type = p_association_type
AND a.source_id = v_source_id)
LOOP
v_assoc_exists := r_chk.assoc_exists_flag;
END LOOP;
IF v_assoc_exists = 0 THEN
-- Add the association
INSERT INTO wweb.dm_associations
(dm_association_id
,dm_message_id
,association_type
,source_id
,source_column_name
,active_flag
,create_date
,create_user
,last_update_date
,last_update_user)
VALUES
(wweb.dm_associations_s.NEXTVAL
,p_dm_message_id
,p_association_type
,v_source_id
,v_source_column_name
,1
,SYSDATE
,p_create_user
,SYSDATE
,p_create_user);
END IF;
.......error handling here...
C# CODE:
OracleParameter[] param = new OracleParameter[4];
param[0] = new OracleParameter("p_dm_message_id", OracleDbType.Long);
param[1] = new OracleParameter("p_association_type", OracleDbType.Varchar2, 5);
param[2] = new OracleParameter("p_sources", OracleDbType.Int32);
param[3] = new OracleParameter("p_create_user", OracleDbType.Varchar2, 25);
param[0].Value = 1;
param[1].Value = "ER";
param[2].Value = new Int32 [] {1, 172, 412, 7953};
param[3].Value = "SVC-GDESAI";
param[2].CollectionType = OracleCollectionType.PLSQLAssociativeArray;
param[2].Size = 4;
param[2].ArrayBindStatus = new OracleParameterStatus[4]{OracleParameterStatus.Success, OracleParameterStatus.Success, OracleParameterStatus.Success, OracleParameterStatus.Success};
cn = new OracleConnection(ConnectionString);
cn.Open();
OracleCommand cmd = new OracleCommand();
cmd.Connection = cn;
cmd.CommandText= "dynamic_messages_api.add_message_associations";
cmd.CommandType= CommandType.StoredProcedure;
foreach (OracleParameter p in param)
if ((p.Direction == ParameterDirection.InputOutput || p.Direction == ParameterDirection.Input) && (p.Value == null || p.Value.ToString() == ""))
p.Value = DBNull.Value;
cmd.Parameters.Add(p);
cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
This ran fine, and created four rows in the table, but the source id's were (1, 2, 3, 4) instead of (1, 172, 412, 7953) which were the ones I passed in.
Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong here?
Thanks,
Gauranga

Answer 1

Hi,
I think you have a problem in you PL/SQL procedure. When you receive an array in the procedure, it is your responsibility to parse it explicitely with a loop or to bulk insert with a "forall" (implicit).
For instance, here is an example of a procedure of mine. I don't catch exceptions as I want the C# calling code to know about them:
The type t_* are defined like yours.
procedure UpdateDistribDates(p_bannerid in t_bannerid,
p_promonumber in t_promonumber,
p_datenumber in t_datenumber,
p_actualdate in t_actualdate ) is
BEGIN
-- First delete the existing dates in bulk
FORALL I IN P_BANNERID.FIRST..P_BANNERID.LAST
DELETE FROM PROMODISTRIBDATE
WHERE BANNERID = P_BANNERID(I)
AND PROMONUMBER = P_PROMONUMBER(I);
-- Then, insert the values passed in arrays.
FORALL I IN P_BANNERID.FIRST..P_BANNERID.LAST
INSERT INTO PROMODISTRIBDATE
(BANNERID,
PROMONUMBER,
DATENUMBER,
ACTUALDATE)
VALUES (P_BANNERID(I),
P_PROMONUMBER(I),
P_DATENUMBER(I),
P_ACTUALDATE(I));
END;
As you can see, the FORALL keyword will process the arrays passed as any other PL/SQL array in one chunk.
When you do the insert like:
INSERT INTO wweb.dm_associations
(dm_association_id
,dm_message_id
,association_type
,source_id
,source_column_name
,active_flag
,create_date
,create_user
,last_update_date
,last_update_user)
VALUES
(wweb.dm_associations_s.NEXTVAL
,p_dm_message_id
,p_association_type
,v_source_id
,v_source_column_name
,1
,SYSDATE
,p_create_user
,SYSDATE
,p_create_user);
In source_id, you insert the index of the table, not the value of the field.
I would suggest you completely rewrite this procedure by using the explicit loop like this:
1/ Explicit loop
FOR i IN 1 .. p_sources.COUNT LOOP
-- Check the existence
EXIST_FLAG := 0;
BEGIN
SELECT 1
INTO EXIST_FLAG
FROM ...
WHERE ...
AND a.source_id = p_source(i) <-- You are parsing here
AND ...
EXCEPTION
WHEN OTHERS THEN -- Nothing was found
EXIST_FLAG := 0;
END;
IF (EXIST_FLAG = 1)
INSERT INTO wweb.dm_associations
(dm_association_id
,dm_message_id
,association_type
,source_id
,source_column_name
,active_flag
,create_date
,create_user
,last_update_date
,last_update_user)
VALUES
(wweb.dm_associations_s.NEXTVAL
,p_dm_message_id
,p_association_type
,p_source(i) <-- You parse here
END IF;
END LOOP;
2/ Implicit loop and bulk insert
You would need to completely review the logic and build an array that maps exactly the row of the table you are trying to insert into. Parse the array and check for the existence of your entry, delete the row in memory when not found, then, after the loop do a bulk insert with a "forall".
Hope it helps,
Patrice