Using multiple values in a where clause, for values only known at runtime

Question

Dear all
I am creating a PL/SQL program which returns multiple rows of data but only where it meets a set id values that a user has previously chosen. The id values are stored in an associative array and are chosen by a user in the preceding procedure at run time.
I know all the table and column names in advance. The only things I don't know are the exact number of ids selected from the id column and what their values will be. This will only be known at runtime. When the procedure is run by the user it prints multiple rows of data to a web browser.
I have been reading the following posting, which I understand to a large extent, Query for multiple value search But I cannot seem to figure out how I would apply it to my work as I am dealing with multiple rows and a cursor.
The code as I have currently written it is wrong because I get an error not found message in my web browser. I think the var_user_chosen_map_list_ids in the for cursor loop could be the problem. I am using the variable_user_chosen_map_list_ids to store all the id values from my associatative array as a string. Which I modified from the code that vidyadhars posted in the other thread.
Should I be creating a OPEN FOR ref cursor and if so where would I put my associative array into it? At the moment I take the value, turning it into a string and IN part in the WHERE clause holds the string, allowing the WHERE clause to read all the values from it. I would expect the where clause to read everything in the string as 1 complete string of VARCHAR2 data but this would not be the case if this part of the code at least was correct. The code is as follows:
--Global variable section contains:
var_user_chosen_map_list_ids VARCHAR2(32767);
PROCEDURE PROCMAPSEARCH (par_user_chosen_map_list_ids PKG_ARR_MAPS.ARR_MAP_LIST)
IS
CURSOR cur_map_search (par_user_chosen_map_list_ids IN NUMBER)
IS
SELECT MI.map_date
       MT.map_title,
FROM map_info MI,
     map_title MT,
WHERE MI.map_title_id = MT.map_title_id
AND MI.map_publication_id IN
(var_user_chosen_map_list_ids);
var_map_list_to_compare VARCHAR2(32767) := '';
var_exe_imm_map VARCHAR2(32767);
BEGIN
FOR rec_user_chosen_map_list_ids IN 1 .. par_user_chosen_map_list_ids.count
LOOP
   var_user_chosen_map_list_ids := var_user_chosen_map_list_ids ||
   '''' ||
   par_user_chosen_map_list_ids(rec_user_chosen_map_list_ids) ||
END LOOP;
var_user_chosen_map_list_ids := substr(var_user_chosen_map_list_ids,
                                        1,
                                        length(var_user_chosen_map_list_ids)-1);
var_exe_imm_map := 'FOR rec_search_entered_details IN cur_map_search
LOOP
htp.print('Map date: ' || cur_map_search.map_date || ' Map title: ' || cur_map_search.map_title)
END LOOP;';
END PROCMAPSEARCH;EXECUTE IMMEDIATE var_exe_imm_map;
I would be grateful of any comments or advice.
Kind regards
Tim

Answer 1

I would like to thank everyone for their kind help.
I have now successfully converted my code for use with dynamic SQL. Part of my problem was getting the concept confused a little, especially as I could get everything work in a static cursor, including variables, as long as they did not contain multiple values. I have learnt that dynamic sql runs the complete select statement at runtime. However even with this I was getting concepts confused. For example I was including variables and the terminator; inside my select string, where as these should be outside it. For example the following is wrong:
     TABLE (sys.dbms_debug_vc2coll(par_user_chosen_map_list_ids))....
AND MI.map_publication_id = column_value;';Where as the following is correct:
     TABLE (sys.dbms_debug_vc2coll('||par_user_chosen_map_list_ids||'))....
AND MI.map_publication_id = column_value';PL/SQL is inserting the values and then running the select statement, as opposed to running the select statement with the variables and then accessing the values stored in those variables. Once I resolved that it worked. My revised code is as follows:
--Global variable section contains:
var_user_chosen_map_list_ids VARCHAR2(32767);
var_details VARCHAR(32767);
PROCEDURE PROCMAPSEARCH (par_user_chosen_map_list_ids PKG_ARR_MAPS.ARR_MAP_LIST)
IS
BEGIN
FOR rec_user_chosen_map_list_ids IN 1 .. par_user_chosen_map_list_ids.count
LOOP
   var_user_chosen_map_list_ids := var_user_chosen_map_list_ids ||
   '''' ||
   par_user_chosen_map_list_ids(rec_user_chosen_map_list_ids) ||
END LOOP;
var_user_chosen_map_list_ids := substr(var_user_chosen_map_list_ids,
                                        1,
                                        length(var_user_chosen_map_list_ids)-1);
var_details := FUNCMAPDATAFIND (var_user_chosen_map_list_ids);
htp.print(var_details);
END PROCMAPSEARCH;
FUNCTION FUNCMAPDETAILS (par_user_chosen_map_list_ids IN VARCHAR2(32767)
RETURN VARCHAR2
AS
TYPE cur_type_map_search IS REF CURSOR;
cur_map_search cur_type_map_search;
var_map_date NUMBER(4);
var_map_title VARCHAR2(32767);
begin:
OPEN cur_map_search FOR
'SELECT MI.map_date,
       MT.map_title
FROM map_info MI,
     map_title MT,
     TABLE (sys.dbms_debug_vc2coll(' || par_user_chosen_map_list_ids || '))
WHERE MI.map_title_id = MT.map_title_id
AND MI.map_publication_id = column_value';
LOOP
FETCH cur_map_compare INTO
var_map_date,
var_map_title;
var_details := var_details || 'Map date: '||
                    var_map_date ||
                    'Map title: ' ||
                    var_map_title;
EXIT WHEN cur_map_compare%NOTFOUND;
END LOOP;
RETURN var_details;
END FUNCMAPDETAILS;Kind regards
Tim