Query using Appends, Lookups and Functions?

Question

I'm new to SQL, databases and APEX! I'm sure this is very easy for you all, but I've been racking my brains for two days on this; time for the experts.
My very simple query is:
select first_name||' '||middle_name||' '||last_name "Full Name"
from name_table;
The problem I'm having, is each name above is in a foreign language (that I don't understand by the way!?), but I have a table that has "English" translations for each name...so my question is how to substitute my "translanted" value in each instance...
to translate the values, I need to do a:
select translated_name
from translated_table
where orginal_name = first_name (or middle_name, or even last_name)
and translation source = 'Dictionary' (there can be 3-4 or four translation sources for each name...)
It seems like a 'function' would be the best way to do this...after much googling, this is what I came up with (which obviously doesn't work!!!):
create or replace function TRANS_NAME (v_original in varchar2)
return varchar2
is
v_translated varchar2;
begin
select translated_name into v_translated
from translated_table
where original_name = v_original
and source='Dictionary'
return v_translated;
end;
I'm using the "APEX Object Browser" to create the function, for a couple reasons:
1. SQL Plus will not display the foreign language (just shows a buch of ??????????s), the APEX SQL tool shows the original language!
2. It gives immediate, if not cryptic, feedback on syntax errors.
FYI, I'm using Oracle 11g, on a Sun server running Solaris 10.
Appreciate any help you might be able to provide!

Answer 1

Hi,
leonhardtk wrote:
to translate the values, I need to do a:
select translated_name
from translated_table
where orginal_name = first_name (or middle_name, or even last_name)
and translation source = 'Dictionary' (there can be 3-4 or four translation sources for each name...)Do you mean there can be 3 or 4 different rows with the same original_name?
Is the combination (original_name, translation_source) unique? (That is, if several rows do have the same original_name, will they all have different translation_sources?)
It seems like a 'function' would be the best way to do this...after much googling, this is what I came up with (which obviously doesn't work!!!):
create or replace function TRANS_NAME (v_original in varchar2)
return varchar2
is
v_translated varchar2;
begin
select translated_name into v_translated
from translated_table
where original_name = v_original
and source='Dictionary'
return v_translated;
end;What's wrong with it?
If it produces an error, post the complete error message, including line number. Indicate if it's a comile or run-time error.
If it produces the wrong results, post the input, the relevant data from the table, and the correct results you need.
FYI, I'm using Oracle 11g, on a Sun server running Solaris 10.Thanks, that could be useful information.
It would also be useful to see a some sample data, and what you want to produce from that data.
A function is only one possible way. Joining to the translated_table is another. Each way has its advantages and disadvantages.
There's a separate forum for Oracle Application Express (APEX). If it looks like you'll need specific Apex features to solve this problem, post another question there. It's very rude to post the same question over and over, even in separate forums, so if you do post a question there, you should mark this one as "Answered".