Preface

This Preface contains these topics:

Audience

Oracle Database PL/SQL Packages and Types Reference is intended for programmers, systems analysts, project managers, and others interested in developing database applications. This manual assumes a working knowledge of application programming and familiarity with SQL to access information in relational database systems. Some sections also assume a knowledge of basic object-oriented programming.

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Related Documents

For more information, see the following documents:

Many of the examples in this book use the sample schemas, which are installed by default when you select the Basic Installation option with an Oracle Database installation. Refer to Oracle Database Sample Schemas for information on how these schemas were created and how you can use them yourself.

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To download free release notes, installation documentation, white papers, or other collateral, please visit the Oracle Technology Network (OTN).

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Conventions

This section describes the conventions used in the text and code examples of this documentation set. It describes:

Conventions in Text

We use various conventions in text to help you more quickly identify special terms. The following table describes those conventions and provides examples of their use.

Convention Meaning Example
Bold Bold typeface indicates terms that are defined in the text or terms that appear in a glossary, or both. When you specify this clause, you create an index-organized table.
Italics Italic typeface indicates book titles or emphasis. Oracle Database Concepts

Ensure that the recovery catalog and target database do not reside on the same disk.
UPPERCASE monospace (fixed-width) font Uppercase monospace typeface indicates elements supplied by the system. Such elements include parameters, privileges, datatypes, RMAN keywords, SQL keywords, SQL*Plus or utility commands, packages and methods, as well as system-supplied column names, database objects and structures, usernames, and roles. You can specify this clause only for a NUMBER column.

You can back up the database by using the BACKUP command.

Query the TABLE_NAME column in the USER_TABLES data dictionary view.

Use the DBMS_STATS.GENERATE_STATS procedure.
lowercase monospace (fixed-width) font Lowercase monospace typeface indicates executable programs, filenames, directory names, and sample user-supplied elements. Such elements include computer and database names, net service names and connect identifiers, user-supplied database objects and structures, column names, packages and classes, usernames and roles, program units, and parameter values.

Note: Some programmatic elements use a mixture of UPPERCASE and lowercase. Enter these elements as shown.

 Enter sqlplus to start SQL*Plus.

The password is specified in the orapwd file.

Back up the datafiles and control files in the /disk1/oracle/dbs directory.

The department_id, department_name, and location_id columns are in the hr.departments table.

Set the QUERY_REWRITE_ENABLED initialization parameter to true.

The JRepUtil class implements these methods.
lowercase italic monospace (fixed-width) font Lowercase italic monospace font represents placeholders or variables. You can specify the parallel_clause.

Run old_release.SQL where old_release refers to the release you installed prior to upgrading.

Conventions in Code Examples

Code examples illustrate SQL, PL/SQL, SQL*Plus, or other command-line statements. They are displayed in a monospace (fixed-width) font and separated from normal text as shown in this example:

SELECT username FROM dba_users WHERE username = 'MIGRATE';

The following table describes typographic conventions used in code examples and provides examples of their use.

Convention Meaning Example 
[ ]
Anything enclosed in brackets is optional. 
DECIMAL (digits [ , precision ])

{ }
Braces are used for grouping items. 
{ENABLE | DISABLE}

|
A vertical bar represents a choice of two options. 
{ENABLE | DISABLE}
[COMPRESS | NOCOMPRESS]

...
Ellipsis points mean repetition in syntax descriptions.

In addition, ellipsis points can mean an omission in code examples or text.

 
CREATE TABLE ... AS subquery;

SELECT col1, col2, ... , coln FROM employees;
Other symbols You must use symbols other than brackets ([ ]), braces ({ }), vertical bars (|), and ellipsis points (...) exactly as shown. 
acctbal NUMBER(11,2);
acct    CONSTANT NUMBER(4) := 3;

Italics
Italicized text indicates placeholders or variables for which you must supply particular values. 
enter password

DB_NAME = database_name

UPPERCASE
Uppercase typeface indicates elements supplied by the system. We show these terms in uppercase in order to distinguish them from terms you define. Unless terms appear in brackets, enter them in the order and with the spelling shown. Because these terms are not case sensitive, you can use them in either UPPERCASE or lowercase. 
SELECT last_name, employee_id FROM employees;
SELECT * FROM USER_TABLES;
DROP TABLE hr.employees;

lowercase
Lowercase typeface indicates user-defined programmatic elements, such as names of tables, columns, or files.

Note: Some programmatic elements use a mixture of UPPERCASE and lowercase. Enter these elements as shown.

 
SELECT last_name, employee_id FROM employees;
sqlplus hr/hr
CREATE USER mjones IDENTIFIED BY ty3MU9;