Oracle PL/SQL Programming, Third Edition

Amazon.com
If you're doing database application development in the Oracle environment, you're going to have to know PL/SQL, the company's extended query and update language. If you want your programs to exploit the special capabilities of Oracle software, you'll need to know the language well. That's where the third edition of Oracle PL/SQL Programming comes into play. It's an absolutely comprehensive reference (as well as a rather extensive tutorial) on PL/SQL, ideally suited to answering your questions about how to perform some programming tasks and reminding you of the characteristics of functions, triggers, and other elements of the database programmer's toolkit. The new edition covers calls to Java methods from within PL/SQL programs, autonomous transactions, object type inheritance, and the new Timestamp and XMLType data types. There's also more information about server internals--the way PL/SQL programs are run--than before, better enabling readers to optimize their code for fast and safe execution.

Steven Feuerstein takes care to explain, with prose and example code, the characteristics of PL/SQL elements. In explaining number conversions, for example, he explores Oracle's different ways of formatting numbers, then details the behavior of the to_number function under different conditions (with and without a specified format model, and with National Language Support information attached). It's a helpful approach that will have readers using the index to locate places in which Feuerstein mentions language elements of interest. --David Wall

FROM OUR EDITORS

Fatbrain Review Devoted entirely to the PL/SQL (Procedural Language extension to SQL), this second edition of Oracle PL/SQL Programming updates the first edition for Oracle8, and includes chapters on new PL/SQL object features (object types, collections, object views, and external procedures). The first three chapters of the book explain what it means to program in PL/SQL, and then walk you through the main features of the language, programming habits, and effective coding style. It then moves on to basic PL/SQL programming components such as variables, cursors, conditional and sequential control statements, loops, exception handlers, PL/SQL records, and PL/SQL tables. Part three of the book covers built-in functions such as character, date, numeric, LOB, and conversion functions that can be put to use immediately in your applications. Moving forward, you will learn how to build procedures, functions, and packages correctly. Chapters 18 through 21 give an in-depth coverage of the new features of Oracle8. Learn about object types, nested tables and VARRAYs, object views, and external procedures. Armed with a summary of helpful tips for effective PL/SQL programming in the real world, part six of the book shows you how to manage your PL/SQL code and debug, tune, and trace the execution of your programs. The text contains numerous examples to guide you as to how, when, and where to apply programming constructs most effectively. Appendices A through C contain a summary of contents on the companion disk, how to call stored procedures from PL/SQL Version 1.1, and how to call Oracle's built-in packages.

ANNOTATION

Devoted entirely to the PL/SQL (Procedural Language extension to SQL), this second edition of Oracle PL/SQL Programming updates the first edition for Oracle8, and includes chapters on new PL/SQL object features (object types, collections, object views, and external procedures). The first three chapters of the book explain what it means to program in PL/SQL, and then walk you through the main features of the language, programming habits, and effective coding style. It then moves on to basic PL/SQL programming components such as variables, cursors, conditional and sequential control statements, loops, exception handlers, PL/SQL records, and PL/SQL tables. Part three of the book covers built-in functions such as character, date, numeric, LOB, and conversion functions that can be put to use immediately in your applications. Moving forward, you will learn how to build procedures, functions, and packages correctly. Chapters 18 through 21 give an in-depth coverage of the new features of Oracle8. Learn about object types, nested tables and VARRAYs, object views, and external procedures. Armed with a summary of helpful tips for effective PL/SQL programming in the real world, part six of the book shows you how to manage your PL/SQL code and debug, tune, and trace the execution of your programs. The text contains numerous examples to guide you as to how, when, and where to apply programming constructs most effectively. Appendices A through C contain a summary of contents on the companion disk, how to call stored procedures from PL/SQL Version 1.1, and how to call Oracle's built-in packages.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Nearly a quarter-million PL/SQL programmers -- novices and experienced developers alike -- have found the first and second editions of Oracle PL/SQL Programming to be indispensable references to this powerful language. Packed with examples and recommendations, this book has helped everyone from Oracle Forms developers to database administrators make the most of PL/SQL.

This new edition is a comprehensive update of the original book, covering all versions of PL/SQL through Oracle9i Release 2. You'll find coverage of new datatypes (e.g., timestamps and XMLType) and new PL/SQL features, such as native dynamic SQL, autonomous transactions, invoker rights, new string-indexed and multilevel collections, record-based DML, and object type inheritance.

The third edition adds much-requested new chapters on how to create and run PL/SQL programs, call Java methods from within PL/SQL, and define and use database triggers. An extensive new chapter -- designed especially for experienced PL/SQL developers -- describes PL/SQL's runtime architecture and how to use knowledge of Oracle internals to get the best performance from PL/SQL.

Even if you've been a PL/SQL developer for years, you'll find an enormous amount of new and revised information in this third edition and on its companion web site. If you're new to PL/SQL, you'll find Oracle PL/SQL Programming an invaluable companion on the road to mastery.

SYNOPSIS

The first edition of Oracle PL/SQL Programming quickly became an indispensable reference for both novice and experienced PL/SQL developers. Packed with examples and recommendations, it helped everyone using PL/SQL (from the Oracle Forms developer to the database administrator) make the most of this powerful language.

Oracle8 presents PL/SQL programmers with new challenges by increasingboth the possibilities and complexities of the language. This new edition updates the original book for Oracle8, adding chapters describing the new PL/SQL object features (object types, collections, object views,and external procedures). The second edition also contains a much-requested chapter on tuning PL/SQL, as well as expanded discussions of debugging and tracing PL/SQL execution.

The book comes with a companion diskette containing the Companion Utilities Guide for Oracle PL/SQL Programming, an online tool developed by RevealNet, Inc. The online guide contains more than 100 file of source code and documentation prepared by the authors.

Even if you've already read the first edition of Oracle PL/SQL Programming, you'll find an enormous amount of new and revised information in this second edition and on its companion diskette. If you're new to PL/SQL, you'll soon find yourself on the road to mastery.

NOTE: To make room for the new material, some summaries and code fromthe first edition have been moved to the companion disk.

FROM THE CRITICS

Booknews

New edition which adds chapters describing PL/SQL in terms of object features and tuning, and includes expanded discussions of debugging and tracing execution. Twenty-six chapters discuss topics including programming, language elements, built-in functions, modular code, and new PL/SQL8 features. The included disk contains the Oracle PL/SQL programming utilities guide which offers approximately 100 files of source code and documentation. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

AUTHOR DESCRIPTION

Steven Feuerstein is considered one of the world's leading experts on the Oracle PL/SQL language. He is also the author of the sequel to Oracle PL/SQLProgramming, Advanced Oracle PL/SQL Programming with Packages (O'Reilly & Associates, 1996), and the upcoming Oracle Built-in Packages (O'Reilly & Associates, 1998).

Steven has been developing software since 1980 and worked for OracleCorporation from 1987 to 1992. He is a partner with RevealNet, Inc.(www.revealnet.com) and is the chief architect of the RevealNet products,PL/SQL Knowledge Base and PL/Vision (a code library of prebuilt PL/SQL packagesthat accelerates PL/SQL-based application development). Steven also sysopsRevealNet's "PL/SQL Pipeline," an online community for PL/SQL developers(www.revealnet.com/plsql-pipeline). He can be reached through email atfeuerstein@revealnet.com. Steven is also president of PL/Solutions, whichoffers training and consulting on both PL/Vision and PL/SQL(www.plsolutions.com). Finally (on the Oracle side of Steven's life), he servesas codirector of the Oracle Practice at SSC, a systems management consultingfirm based in Chicago (www.saraswati.com).

Steven shares his Rogers Park, Chicago, Georgian with his wife Veva, hisyoungest son Eli, two cats (Sister Itsacat and Moshe Jacobawitz), and Mercury(the Congo Red African Gray parrot). His older son, Chris, is busy making musicand creating art nearby. Steven is a member of the Board of Directors of theCrossroads Fund, which provides grants to organizations in Chicago working forsocial change.

Bill Pribyl, founder and principal of DataCraft, Inc. (www.datacraft.com), has been learning andteaching about Oracle databases and applications for morethan ten years. His work with object-oriented technology dates to themid-1980s, when he coauthored a paper on the application of entity-relationshipmodeling to object-oriented analysis.

A self-avowed Oracle "generalist," Bill has served as an Oracle databaseadministrator for several billion-dollar companies; led the development ofweb-based database applications for online commerce; configured an ultra-highavailability database using Oracle replication; helped NASA apply databasetechnology to space shuttle simulation software; and developed and taughtclasses in PL/SQL, Developer/2000, and the Oracle database. An ardent supporterof the Oracle user community, Bill is past chair of the South Central (USA)Oracle Users Group. He also served as editor-in-chief of Select, the quarterly publication of the International Oracle Users Group-Americas. His work has been published in Oracle user group publications worldwide. He also authored JavaScript programming examples for The Official Netscape LiveWire Pro Book.