Trying to use parameter variable as column identifier in SQL where clause

Question

Hey guys,
Doing a college project... would really appreciate some help. I am trying to use a variable in the where clause of a select cursor in PL/SQL. The code is this:
procedure results(p_search_entry varchar2, p_search_field varchar2) is
cursor c_results is
select * from physics_b where p_search_field = p_search_entry;
begin
for cv_results in c_results
loop
-- loop through actions
end loop;
The problem is that I don't know how to get the where clause to accept the variable passed into the procedure as the field name. Does anyone know the syntax for this?
Thanks very much!

Answer 1

To suit your requirement use ref cursor..
If your database is 9i and upwards you can use sys_refcursor as I have used or else you can declare the cursor shown in the statement below
type c_result is ref cursor;
c_results c_result;
Jus replace these two statement in the example if your oracle database is prior to 9i
Eg:
procedure results(p_search_entry varchar2, p_search_field varchar2) is
qry_stmt VARCHAR2(1000) ;
c_results sys_refcursor;
begin
qry_stmt := 'select * from physics_b where '||p_search_field|| '='|| p_search_entry
open c_results for qry_stmt
loop
<fetch as like normal cursor>
<ur normal cursor operation etc....>
end loop;
end results;
Sorry I posted twice
Message was edited by:
Shasi