What is a \par for in PL/SQL?

Question

Hello...
I received some code from a vendor to create a function in my database and I have never seen PL/SQL code have a "\par". What is a \par? What does it do? I'm use to running PL/SQL blocks without these? I'm stumped! Please help!
Thx!
Ken
CREATE OR REPLACE function tsp_FindAllChildren(record_id$ int, rend_ids$ varchar2, where_clause$ varchar2)\par
return tspkg_types_int_int_str_tbl\par
as\par
--usage:\par
--select * from table (cast (tsp_FindAllChildren(1, '1, 2', '1') as tspkg_types_int_int_str_tbl));\par
ret$ tspkg_types_int_int_str_tbl := tspkg_types_int_int_str_tbl();\par
file_checksum$ varchar2(256) := '';\par
query$ varchar2(4000) := '';\par
crs$ int := 0;\par
count$ int := 0;\par
rec_id$ int := 0;\par
rend_id$ int := 0;\par
begin\par
query$ := 'select distinct d.record_id, d.rend_id, d.file_checksum from (select distinct d.record_id, d.rend_id, d.file_checksum from doc_renditions d where d.file_checksum in (select g.file_checksum from cov_geometry g where g.record_id = ' || ltrim(record_id$) || ' and g.file_checksum is not null and g.geometry_type = ''DOCUMENT'')'\par
|| ' union select distinct d.record_id, d.rend_id, d.file_checksum from doc_renditions d where d.record_id in (select max(v.record_id) from ed_versions v, cov_geometry g where v.file_checksum = g.file_checksum and g.record_id = ' || ltrim(record_id$) || ' and g.file_checksum is not null and g.geometry_type = ''DOCUMENT'' group by v.file_checksum) ) d';\par
if (where_clause$ is not null) then\par
query$ := query$ || ', editorial e';\par
query$ := query$ || ' where (' || where_clause$ || ') and d.record_id = e.record_id';\par
if (rend_ids$ is not null) then\par
query$ := query$ || ' and d.rend_id in(' || rend_ids$ || ')';\par
end if;\par
else\par
if (rend_ids$ is not null) then\par
query$ := query$ || ' where d.rend_id in(' || rend_ids$ || ')';\par
end if;\par
end if;\par
query$ := query$ || ' order by d.file_checksum, d.record_id, d.rend_id';\par
crs$:= dbms_sql.open_cursor;\par
dbms_sql.parse(crs$, query$, dbms_sql.v7);\par
dbms_sql.define_column(crs$, 1, rec_id$);\par
dbms_sql.define_column(crs$, 2, rend_id$);\par
dbms_sql.define_column(crs$, 3, file_checksum$, 32);\par
count$ := dbms_sql.execute(crs$);\par
while (0 < dbms_sql.fetch_rows(crs$)) loop\par
dbms_sql.column_value(crs$, 1, rec_id$);\par
dbms_sql.column_value(crs$, 2, rend_id$);\par
dbms_sql.column_value(crs$, 3, file_checksum$);\par
ret$.extend;\par
ret$(ret$.count) := tspkg_types_int_int_str(rec_id$, rend_id$, file_checksum$);\par
end loop;\par
dbms_sql.close_cursor(crs$);\par
return ret$;\par
end;\par
}

Answer 1

Maybe a cut and paste from a RTF document?
From Rich Text Format:
A backslash (\) starts an RTF control code. The \par control code indicates the end of a paragraph, and \b switches to a bold typeface.