Referencing a Variable When Calling a Function

Question

I want to use a variable I have created when I call a certain function. It appears that I may be going about it the wrong away. Can someone take a look at this and tell me if it's possible or maybe how to achieve the result I'm trying for? It would be nice to use the variable anywhere in my whole script besides just inside a certain block.
This is my code:
DECLARE
continuing_term varchar2(6);
BEGIN
    SELECT MIN(sgbstdn_term_code_eff)
    INTO continuing_term
    FROM sgbstdn
    WHERE sgbstdn_pidm = '216520'
    AND sgbstdn_styp_code = 'C'
    AND sgbstdn_stst_code = 'AS';
    SELECT substr(f_concat_as_of_cum_gpa('216520', continuing_term ,'UG','I'),14,3) FROM dual;
END;
/I'm getting the error that an into clause is expected at the second SELECT statement.

Answer 1

blackhole82 wrote:
I want to use a variable I have created when I call a certain function. It appears that I may be going about it the wrong away. Can someone take a look at this and tell me if it's possible or maybe how to achieve the result I'm trying for? It would be nice to use the variable anywhere in my whole script besides just inside a certain block.Can you tell us what is the result you're trying for?
If it's just setting a variable, then a bind variable may be the easiest thing.
Use the PL/SQL VARIABLE commnad to define a bind variable, such as gpa_code.
After it is defined, the varibale can be used in SQL statements of PL/SQL, as :gpa_code, prefixed with a colon.
For example:
VARIABLE  gpa_code  VARCHAR2 (3);
BEGIN
    SELECT SUBSTR ( f_concat_as_of_cum_gpa ( 216520
                                            , MIN(sgbstdn_term_code_eff)
                                            , 'UG'
                                            , 'I'
                  , 14
                  , 3
    INTO :gpa_code
    FROM sgbstdn
    WHERE sgbstdn_pidm = '216520'
    AND sgbstdn_styp_code = 'C'
    AND sgbstdn_stst_code = 'AS';
END;
SELECT  *
FROM    some_other_table
WHERE   column_a = :gpa_code;As Tubby mentioned earlier, making this a function rather than an anonymous block would probably be a good idea.
Then you could say
SELECT  *
FROM    some_other_table
WHERE   column_a = get_gpa_code;or
SELECT  *
FROM    some_other_table
WHERE   column_a = get_gpa_code (216520, 'C', 'UG');
This is my code:
DECLARE
continuing_term varchar2(6);
BEGIN
SELECT MIN(sgbstdn_term_code_eff)
INTO continuing_term
FROM sgbstdn
WHERE sgbstdn_pidm = '216520'
AND sgbstdn_styp_code = 'C'
AND sgbstdn_stst_code = 'AS';
SELECT substr(f_concat_as_of_cum_gpa('216520', continuing_term ,'UG','I'),14,3) FROM dual;
END;
/I'm getting the error that an into clause is expected at the second SELECT statement.The immediate problem is that you need an INTO clause, like you have in the first query.
You don't need two queries. See the bind variable illustration above.
Edited by: Frank Kulash on Nov 7, 2008 11:41 AM