Shell commands in pl/sql

Question

Hi i´m having trouble using this:
http://asktom.oracle.com/pls/ask/f?p=4950:8:6113176678923179734::NO::F4950_P8_DISPLAYID,F4950_P8_CRITERIA:16212348050
the code i used is:
create or replace procedure host( cmd in varchar2 ) as
status number;
begin
dbms_pipe.pack_message( cmd );
status := dbms_pipe.send_message( 'HOST_PIPE' );
if ( status <> 0 ) then
     raise_application_error( -20001, 'Pipe error' );
end if;
end host;
I've granted the privileges to run dbms_pipe, BUT when i try to use it, it gets stuck while trying to run :
exec host('ls -l')
it doesn't respond....
then i tryed the part where it uses a shell to see what the procedure is doing, the code is:
#!/bin/csh -f
sqlplus tkyte/tkyte <<"EOF" | grep '^#' | sed 's/^.//' > tmp.csh
set serveroutput on
declare
status number;
command varchar2(255);
begin
status := dbms_pipe.receive_message( 'HOST_PIPE' );
if ( status <> 0 ) then
dbms_output.put_line( '#exit' );
else
dbms_pipe.unpack_message( command );
dbms_output.put_line( '##!/bin/csh -f' );
dbms_output.put_line( '#' || command );
dbms_output.put_line( '#exec host.csh' );
end if;
end;
spool off
"EOF"
chmod +x tmp.csh
exec tmp.csh
I supose it runs ok, becouse it creates a file named tmp.sch, but i can't really be sure becouse the previous part can't be done.
another question is that what does tom mean when he says "running this in the background", do i have to do it o does it do it itself.
what i need to do with this is send a file trough ftp, i've been using this shell named A-ftp.txt:
ftp -v -n 10.128.0.89 << EOF
user username password
bin
put "$1"
bye
EOF
where $1 is the name of the file. so when i try it trough my procedure it would be:
exec host('A-ftp.txt name-of-file')
but it olso gets stuck. I need this urgent!!!! what is the problem??? is there another solution to my problem?? is dbms_pipe the only way???
the code is the same as in the web page were i retrieved it, so i need to be given instructions in what to change and what to leave it as it is.
Restrictions:
I can only use pl/sql
I have little time
Thank You in advance

Answer 1

Restrictions:
I can only use pl/sql
I have little timeYou don't say which version of the database you are using. If it's 9.2 or higher you should check out Tim Hall's PL/SQL ftp implementation.
Cheers, APC