Using apex item for list of number for 'IN' clause

Question

Greetings,
I have a computation that looks like this:
select count(mr.mr_id)
from ds_moriver mr
where mr.approved = 0 OR mr.approved IS NULL
and mr.mr_id NOT IN (:P62_MRID)
I am looking to enter numbers in the NOT IN clause like '123,234,...'
I have a text field item (P62_MRID) where the user can enter IDs for the NOT IN clause.  So for example, 13578,182.  If the user enters one number it works fine.  If the user enters 2 numbers with a comma (13578,182) then I get this error when the computation is run:
ORA-01722: invalid number
So substituting 13578,182 for P62_MRID the SQL statement should compute as:
select count(mr.mr_id)
from ds_moriver mr
where mr.approved = 0 OR mr.approved IS NULL
and mr.mr_id NOT IN (13578,182)
Why am I getting the error, 'ORA-01722: invalid number'?
Thanks in advance!
John

Answer 1

Glad to help. Don't know how long you've been using APEX, but thought I'd caution you against "going wild" with the item substitution syntax. In general, if you can do it with bind variable syntax, that's better. The use of item substitution syntax can contribute to SQL injection attacks. But, if you have suitable control over the contents of the items being substituted, the risk is mitigated. Just don't create an APEX process like this:
begin
   &P10_TEXT_DIRECTLY_FROM_USER.
end;
That'll get you into trouble.