Stored procedure transactions

Question

I want to select message from a table (INBOX), put there id in a pending table and return those messages as a cursor.
FUNCTION nonPendingMessages
     RETURN pkg_delijn.ref_cursor AS
     nonPendingCursorRef pkg_delijn.ref_cursor;
     CURSOR nonPendingCursor IS select * from inbox where id not in (select id from pending);
BEGIN
     OPEN nonPendingCursorRef FOR select * from inbox where id not in (select id from pending);
     for nonPending in nonPendingCursor loop
          insert into pending (ID) values (nonPending.id);
     end loop;
     RETURN nonPendingCursorRef;
END;
the problem is than not alway all of the records that where inserted are returned to the cursor??? Can it be that between the query and the insert there are new records put in inbox.
my solution was:
FUNCTION nonPendingMessages
     RETURN pkg_delijn.ref_cursor AS
     nonPendingCursorRef pkg_delijn.ref_cursor;
     CURSOR nonPendingCursor IS select * from inbox where id not in (select id from pending);
          lTrancaction Number;
BEGIN
     select SEQ_Transaction.nextVal() into lTransaction from dummy;
     for nonPending in nonPendingCursor loop
          insert into pending (ID, TRANSACTION) values (nonPending.id, lTransaction);
     end loop;
     OPEN nonPendingCursorRef FOR select * from inbox where id in (select id from pending where Transaction = lTrancaction);
          RETURN nonPendingCursorRef;
END;
but then I have to add the extro column TRANSACTION, is there an other solution.

Answer 1

Please accept my apologies. I should have tested my previous post but I had to go to an after work meeting.
This ought to do what you want (but doesn't):
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION nonPendingMessages
RETURN  dyn_fetch.ref_cur_t AS
  nonPendingCursorRef;
lrec t1%ROWTYPE;
BEGIN
OPEN nonPendingCursorRef
FOR SELECT * FROM inbox x WHERE id NOT IN (SELECT id FROM pending);
LOOP
   /* Fetch from cursor variable. */
   FETCH nonPendingCursorRef INTO lrec;
   EXIT WHEN nonPendingCursorRef%NOTFOUND; -- exit when last row is fetched
     INSERT INTO pending (col1) VALUES (lrec.id);
  END LOOP;
RETURN nonPendingCursorRef;
END;
However, a REF CURSOR is a pointer not an actual cache of rows. Once we have walked through the ref cursor the pointer is at the end of the array. So the above function returns an "empty" result set. Think of it as bullets in a six shooter.
So, if you really want to do this PENDING malarky you'll need to do it in the procedure that receives the REF CURSOR.
Remember to COMMIT the inserts.
Cheers, APC
BTW What is it with this schtick?
BTW. I can't change the table structure.I see a lot of it here. What this means is, I have a rubbish data structure and my boss is stupid or scary or both. Both is common. But you end up writing rubbish code and it's not good for the soul.