Using plsql table and ref cursor in oracle forms 10g

Question

Hi all,
Can anyone give me an example of a scenario where we need to create a form manually based on a database stored procedures.
And in that procedure i have created a pl/sql table and a ref cursor in data base level.
CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE SCOTT.BONUS_PKG IS TYPE bonus_rec
IS RECORD(
empno     bonus_EMP.empno%TYPE,
ename     bonus_EMP.ename%TYPE,
job     bonus_EMP.job%TYPE,
sal     bonus_EMP.sal%TYPE,
comm     bonus_EMP.comm%TYPE);
TYPE b_cursor IS REF CURSOR RETURN bonus_rec;
TYPE bontab IS TABLE OF bonus_rec INDEX BY BINARY_INTEGER;
PROCEDURE bonus_refcur(bonus_data IN OUT b_cursor);
PROCEDURE bonus_query(bonus_data IN OUT bontab);
END bonus_pkg;
CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE BODY SCOTT.BONUS_PKG IS
PROCEDURE bonus_query(bonus_data IN OUT bontab) IS
ii NUMBER;
CURSOR bonselect IS
SELECT empno, ename, job, sal, comm FROM bonus_EMP ORDER BY empno;
BEGIN
OPEN bonselect;
ii := 1;
LOOP
FETCH bonselect INTO
bonus_data( ii ).empno,
bonus_data( ii ).ename,
bonus_data( ii ).job,
bonus_data( ii ).sal,
bonus_data( ii ).comm;
EXIT WHEN bonselect%NOTFOUND;
ii := ii + 1;
END LOOP;
END bonus_query;
PROCEDURE bonus_refcur(bonus_data IN OUT b_cursor) IS
BEGIN
OPEN bonus_data FOR SELECT empno, ename, job, sal, comm FROM bonus_EMP ORDER BY empno;
END bonus_refcur;
END bonus_pkg;
i want to populate the data in forms manually not using forms data block wizard and programmatically.
please reply...

Answer 1

Can anyone give me an example of a scenario where we need to create a form manually based on a database stored procedures.Typically, you would use a procedure based block when you have a collection of data from multiple tables presented in a Form and your user needs to be able to update the information displayed.
From your code example, it looks like you are using Oracle Support document "Basing a Block on a Stored Procedure - Sample Code [ID 66887.1]". If this is the case, keep following the document - it walks you through all of the steps. There is no need to Manually configure things that the Data Block Wizard will perform for you!
i want to populate the data in forms manually not using forms data block wizard and programmatically. Why? Let the Data Block Wizard take care of configuring your block based on a procedure for you. There is no need to manually loop through the data! I've actually done what you are attempting and it was more work than was needed. Let Forms do the work for you. :)
If you absolutely must do things manually, I recommend you use the PROCEDURE bonus_query(bonus_data IN OUT bontab) instead of the bonus_refcur(bonus_data IN OUT b_cursor) . Then, in your code create a variable of type BONTAB and then call the bonus_query procedure. Then it is a simple case of looping through the table of records returned by the bonus_query procedure. For example:
DECLARE
   t_bonus    bonus_pkb.bontab;
BEGIN
   bonus_pkg.bonus_query(t_bonus);
   FOR i in 1 .. t_bonus.count LOOP
      :YOUR_BLOCK.EMPLOYEE_NUMBER := t_bonus(i).empno;
      :YOUR_BLOCK.EMPLOYEE_NAME := t_bonus(i).ename;
      :YOUR_BLOCK.EMPLOYEE_JOB := t_bonus(i).job;
      :YOUR_BLOCK.EMPLOYEE_SALARY := t_bonus(i).sal;
      :YOUR_BLOCK.EMPLOYEE_COMMISSION := t_bonus(i).comm;
   END LOOP;
END;This code sample demonstrates the basics, but as it is sample code - you will have to adapt it to your situation.
Also, I strongly recommend you look at the article InoL listed. This is a very comprehensive discussion on REF CURSORs. If you are set on using a procedure based data source - it is more efficient to pass the table of records back to your form than it is to pass a ref cursor. Using a ref cursor, you might as well just using a standard named cursor and loop through your named cursor. The effect is the same (one row returned at a time creating lots of network traffic). Using the table of records is more efficient because the entire data set is returned so network traffic is reduced.
Hope this helps,
Craig B-)
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