XML generation and nls_numeric_characters

Question

DBMS_XMLGEN generates the numbers in the xml based on the nls_numeric_characters where as DBMS_XMLQUERY always generates the numbers in a raw format.
Following is the piece of code along with the output:
****SCRIPT TO GENERATE XML USING PACKAGE DBMS_XMLQUERY******
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ALTER SESSION SET nls_numeric_characters=',.';
set serveroutput on
spool main.lst
begin
dbms_output.enable(20000000);
end;
DECLARE
queryCtx dbms_xmlquery.ctxType;
result CLOB;
l_offset number default 1;
BEGIN
queryCtx := dbms_xmlquery.newContext(
'SELECT Sum(Value) SUM FROM testxml'
result := dbms_xmlquery.getXml(queryCtx);
LOOP
exit when l_offset > dbms_lob.getlength(result);
dbms_output.put_line( dbms_lob.substr( result, 255, l_offset ) );
l_offset := l_offset + 255;
END LOOP;
dbms_xmlquery.closeContext(queryCtx);
END;
Output of the above script:
<?xml version = '1.0'?>
<ROWSET>
<ROW num="1">
<SUM>310.6</SUM>
</ROW>
</ROWSET>
Package DBMS_XMLQUERY has generated the number in raw format though the
nls_numeric_characters is set to ',.'
****SCRIPT TO GENERATE XML USING PACKAGE DBMS_XMLGEN******
ALTER SESSION SET nls_numeric_characters=',.';
DECLARE
qryCtx DBMS_XMLGEN.ctxHandle;
result CLOB;
l_offset number default 1;
BEGIN
qryCtx := dbms_xmlgen.newContext ('SELECT Sum(Value) SUM FROM testxml');
result := DBMS_XMLGEN.getXML(qryCtx);
LOOP
exit when l_offset > dbms_lob.getlength(result);
debug_proc(dbms_lob.substr( result, 255, l_offset ));
dbms_output.put_line( dbms_lob.substr( result, 255, l_offset ) );
l_offset := l_offset + 255;
END LOOP;
END;
Output of the above script:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<ROWSET>
<ROW>
<SUM>310,6</SUM>
</ROW>
</ROWSET>
Please note that the number in this case has been formatted based on the
NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS.
Internally, we are creating the XML for a BI report. In BI Report, OPP always expect the number to be in raw format.
But DBMS_XMLGEN always generate numbers in a formatted way. Is there any option to generate the numbers in raw format using the package DBMS_XMLGEN
Thanks,
Raghu

Answer 1

Hi,
Can't you use ALTER SESSION with the separators you want?
NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS = '.,' or
NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS = '. 'Alternatively, you can perform an explicit conversion with TO_CHAR function, e.g. :
SELECT dbms_xmlgen.getXML('select to_char(1234.56, ''fm99999.99'') val from dual')
FROM dual;