Syntax to print out variable

Question

I need to know the syntax to print out bind variable to
xterm. ( :import.out := outdir ).
I believe forms doesn't have the dbms package but
does have the text_io. I would like to know the
syntax for both as I want to monitor a variable's contents
from unix script through forms and through a stored procedure.

Answer 1

> I want to use the select statement instead of anonymous block.
Like I wrote above, functions with out parameters is poor programming practice. Oracle won't let you use a function with an out parameter in a select statement. You MUST use PL/SQL. See this example:
SQL> Create or replace function ABC(i in number, o out number)
  2    return number is
  3  Begin
  4    o := 2 * i;
  5    Return 3 * i;
  6  End;
  7  /
SQL> variable o1 number
SQL> select ABC( 5, :o1 ) from dual;
select ABC( 5, :o1 ) from dual
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-06572: Function ABC has out arguments
SQL> variable r1 number
SQL> Begin
  2    :r1 := ABC( 5, :o1 );
  3  End;
  4  /
SQL> print :r1
        R1
        15
SQL> Print :o1
        O1
        10
SQL> drop function ABC;
SQL>