9 TimesTen PL/SQL Support: Reference Summary

The purpose of this chapter is to summarize PL/SQL language elements and features and compare their support in TimesTen to their support in Oracle. In the Oracle Database documentation, many of these features are covered in "PL/SQL Language Elements" in Oracle Database PL/SQL Language Reference.

Table 9-1 PL/SQL Language Element and Feature Support in TimesTen

Feature Name	Description	Supported?	Example/Comment
ALTER {PROCEDURE| FUNCTION | PACKAGE} statements	Recompiles a PL/SQL procedure, function, or package.	Y	Syntax and semantics are the same as in Oracle. For information about these statements, see "SQL Statements" in Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database SQL Reference.
ALTER SESSION statement	Changes session parameters dynamically.	Y	In TimesTen you can use ALTER SESSION to set some PL/SQL connection attributes as discussed in "PL/SQL connection attributes". For more information on this statement in TimesTen, see "ALTER SESSION" in Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database SQL Reference.
Assignment statement	Sets current value of a variable, parameter, or element.	Y	See "PL/SQL variables and constants".
AUTONOMOUS_TRANSACTION pragma	Marks a routine as autonomous.	N	TimesTen does not support autonomous transactions.
Block declaration	Basic unit of a PL/SQL source program.	Y	See "PL/SQL blocks".
BULK COLLECT clause	Can be used to select multiple rows.	Y	This clause can be used with the SELECT statement in PL/SQL to retrieve rows without using a cursor. See "FORALL and BULK COLLECT operations" and "Examples using FORALL and BULK COLLECT".
CALL statement	Executes a routine from within SQL.	Y	In TimesTen, use the CALL statement with EXECUTE IMMEDIATE to execute TimesTen built-in procedures. See the example "Using EXECUTE IMMEDIATE to call ttConfiguration". In Oracle, use the CALL statement to execute PL/SQL stored procedures and functions.
CASE statement	Evaluates an expression, compares it against several values, and takes action according to the comparison that is TRUE.	Y	See "PL/SQL control structures".
CLOSE statement	Closes cursor or cursor variable.	Y	See Example 2-13, "Using a cursor to retrieve information about an employee" (among others).
Collection definition	Specifies a collection, which is an ordered group of elements, all of the same type.	Y	Examples include: associative arrays (index-by tables), nested tables, and varrays. While TimesTen supports these types, it does not support passing them between PL/SQL and applications written in other languages. See "Using collections".
Collection methods	Built-in subprograms that operate on collections and are called using "dot" notation.	Y	See "Collection Methods" in Oracle Database PL/SQL Language Reference. Examples include COUNT, DELETE, EXISTS, EXTEND, FIRST, LAST, LIMIT, NEXT, PRIOR, and TRIM.
Comments	Text included within your code for explanatory purposes.	Y	Single-line and multi-line comments are supported.
COMMIT statement	Ends the current transaction and makes permanent all changes performed in the transaction.	Y	See "COMMIT" in Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database SQL Reference. Important: COMMIT and ROLLBACK statements close all cursors in TimesTen.
Connection attributes	Equivalent to initialization parameters in the Oracle Database.	Y	See "PL/SQL connection attributes". Also see "Data Store Attributes" in Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database Reference.
Constant and variable declarations	Specify constants and variables to be used in PL/SQL code, in the declarative part of any PL/SQL block, subprogram, or package.	Y	See "PL/SQL variables and constants".
CONTINUE statement	Exits the current iteration of a loop and transfers control to the next iteration.	Y	See "CONTINUE statement".
CREATE FUNCTION statement	Creates a PL/SQL function.	Y	CREATE FUNCTION is supported in TimesTen, but the AS LANGUAGE, AS EXTERNAL, and PIPELINED clauses are not supported. See "PL/SQL procedures and functions". Also see "CREATE FUNCTION" in Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database SQL Reference. You are not required to run DBMSSTDX.SQL in TimesTen.
CREATE LIBRARY statement	Creates a schema object associated with an operating system shared library.	N	CREATE LIBRARY is not supported in TimesTen.
CREATE PACKAGE statement CREATE PACKAGE BODY statement	These statements are used together to create a PL/SQL package definition and package body.	Y	Syntax and semantics are the same as in Oracle. See "PL/SQL packages". Also see "CREATE PACKAGE" and "CREATE PACKAGE BODY" in Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database SQL Reference. You are not required to run DBMSSTDX.SQL in TimesTen.
CREATE PROCEDURE statement	Creates a PL/SQL procedure.	Y	CREATE PROCEDURE is supported in TimesTen, but the AS LANGUAGE and AS EXTERNAL clauses are not supported. See "PL/SQL procedures and functions". Also see "CREATE PROCEDURE" in Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database SQL Reference. You are not required to run DBMSSTDX.SQL in TimesTen.
CREATE TYPE statement	Creates a user-defined object type or collection type.	N	TimesTen does not support CREATE TYPE.
Cursor attributes	Appended to the cursor or cursor variable to return useful information about the execution of a data manipulation statement.	Y	Explicit cursors and cursor variables have four attributes: %FOUND, %ISOPEN, %NOTFOUND, %ROWCOUNT. The implicit cursor (SQL) has additional attributes: %BULK_ROWCOUNT, %BULK_EXCEPTIONS. See "Using the %ROWCOUNT and %NOTFOUND attributes" and "Using FORALL with SQL%BULK_ROWCOUNT". Also see "Named Cursor Attribute" in Oracle Database PL/SQL Language Reference.
Cursor declaration	Declares a cursor. To execute a multi-row query, TimesTen opens an unnamed work area that stores processing information. A cursor lets you name the work area, access the information, and process the rows individually.	Y	See "Use of cursors in PL/SQL programs".
Cursor variables (REF CURSORs)	Act as handles to cursors over SQL result sets.	Y	TimesTen supports OUT REF CURSORs, one per statement. See "PL/SQL REF CURSORs".
Database links (dblinks)	A pointer that defines a one-way communication path from an Oracle Database server to another database server.	N	TimesTen does not support database links.
DELETE statement	Deletes rows from a table.	Y	See "DELETE" in Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database SQL Reference.
DROP { PROCEDURE | FUNCTION| PACKAGE} statement	Removes a PL/SQL procedure, function, or package, as specified.	Y	Syntax and semantics are the same as in Oracle. You can refer to information about these statements in "SQL Statements" in Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database SQL Reference.
Error reporting		Y	TimesTen applications report errors using Oracle error codes instead of TimesTen error codes. The error messages that accompany the error codes are either TimesTen error messages or Oracle error messages.
EXCEPTION_INIT pragma	Associates a user-defined exception with a TimesTen error number.	Y	See "EXCEPTION_INIT Pragma" in Oracle Database PL/SQL Language Reference.
Exception definition	Specifies an exception, which is a runtime error or warning condition. Can be predefined or user-defined.	Y	Predefined conditions are raised implicitly. User-defined exceptions are raised explicitly by the RAISE statement. To handle raised exceptions, write separate routines called "exception handlers". See Chapter 4, "Errors and Exception Handling".
EXECUTE IMMEDIATE statement	Builds and executes a dynamic SQL statement.	Y	TimesTen supports this to execute SQL DML and DDL statements, but not to execute PL/SQL. See "Dynamic SQL in PL/SQL (EXECUTE IMMEDIATE statement)". In TimesTen, the EXECUTE IMMEDIATE statement can also be used to execute TimesTen built-in procedures and TimesTen-specific SQL features (such as SELECT FIRST).
Executing PL/SQL from client applications		Y	Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database supports ODBC, OCI, Pro*C/C++, TTClasses (a set of TimesTen C++ classes), and JDBC.
Executing PL/SQL from SQL		N	In TimesTen, you cannot execute PL/SQL from either a static or dynamic SQL statement.
EXIT statement	Exits a loop and transfers control to the end of the loop.	Y	See Example 6-3, "Use ALTER SESSION to change attribute settings" (among others).
Expression definition	Specifies an expression, which is a combination of operands (variables, constants, literals, operators, and so on) and operators. The simplest expression is a single variable.	Y
FETCH statement	Retrieves rows of data from the result set of a multi-row query.	Y	See Example 2-13, "Using a cursor to retrieve information about an employee" (among others).
FORALL statement	Bulk-binds input collections before sending them to the SQL engine.	Y	See "FORALL and BULK COLLECT operations".
Function declaration and definition	Specifies a subprogram or stored program that can be declared and defined in a PL/SQL block or package and returns a single value.	Y	A function or procedure must be executed in an anonymous block. It cannot be executed through a CALL statement or from any other SQL statement in TimesTen. Use the CREATE FUNCTION statement in TimesTen SQL to create stored functions. See "PL/SQL procedures and functions". Also see "CREATE FUNCTION" in Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database SQL Reference. Also refer to the table entry below for "Procedure declaration and definition".
GOTO statement	Branches unconditionally to a statement label or block label.	Y	See "GOTO Statement" in Oracle Database PL/SQL Language Reference.
IF statement	Executes or skips a sequence of statements depending on the value of the associated boolean expression.	Y	See "Conditional control".
Initialization parameters	Initial parameter settings for an Oracle Database.		TimesTen connection attributes are equivalent. See that entry above.
INLINE pragma	Specifies whether a subprogram call is to be inline.	Y	See "INLINE Pragma" in Oracle Database PL/SQL Language Reference.
INSERT statement	Inserts one or more rows of data into a table.	Y	See "Example using the INSERT statement". Also see "INSERT" in Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database SQL Reference.
Literal declaration	Specifies a numeric, character string, or boolean value.	Y	Examples: Numeric literal: 135 String literal: 'TimesTen'
LOCK TABLE statement	Locks database tables in a specified lock mode.	N	TimesTen does not support the LOCK TABLE statement.
LOOP statement	Executes a sequence of statements multiple times. Can be used, for example, in implementing a FOR loop or WHILE loop.	Y	See Example 2-8, "Using a WHILE loop". Also see "Basic LOOP Statement" in Oracle Database PL/SQL Language Reference.
MERGE statement	Allows you to select rows from one or more sources for update or insertion into a target table.	Y	TimesTen SQL statement. See "MERGE" in Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database SQL Reference.
Native dynamic SQL execution	Processes most dynamic SQL statements by means of the EXECUTE IMMEDIATE statement.	Y	See the EXECUTE IMMEDIATE entry above.
Non-ASCII names	Use of non-ASCII character sets in names of tables, columns, procedures, functions, and other database objects.	N	In TimesTen (unlike in Oracle), this is not supported.
Non-uppercase names	Use of quoted non-uppercase names of tables, columns, procedures, functions, and other database objects.	N	In TimesTen (unlike in Oracle), this is not supported (such as lowercase and MixedCase). For example, you cannot have the following: create or replace procedure "MixedCase" as begin ... end; /
NULL statement	A no-operation statement. Passes control to the next statement without performing any action.	Y	See "NULL Statement" in Oracle Database PL/SQL Language Reference. Also, one is used in Example 3-3, "Declaring a record type".
Object type declaration	Specifies a custom object type, which is created in SQL and stored in the database.	N	Object types are not supported at the database level. For example, CREATE TYPE is not supported.
OPEN statement	Executes the query associated with a cursor. Allocates database resources to process the query, and identifies the result set.	Y	See Example 2-13, "Using a cursor to retrieve information about an employee".
OPEN-FOR statement	Executes the SELECT statement associated with a cursor variable (REF CURSOR). Positions the cursor variable before the first row in the result set.	Y	See Example 3-4, "Fetch rows from result set of a dynamic multirow query".
Package declaration	Specifies a package, which is a database object that groups logically related PL/SQL types, items, and subprograms.	Y	TimesTen SQL statements CREATE PACKAGE and CREATE PACKAGE BODY. See "SQL Statements" in Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database SQL Reference for information about these statements. Also see "PL/SQL packages".
Procedure declaration and definition	Specifies a subprogram or stored program that can be declared and defined in a PL/SQL block or package and performs a specific action.	Y	A procedure or function must be executed in an anonymous block. It cannot be executed through a CALL statement or from any other SQL statement in TimesTen. Use the CREATE PROCEDURE statement in TimesTen SQL to create stored procedures. See "PL/SQL procedures and functions". Also see "CREATE PROCEDURE" in Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database SQL Reference. Also refer to the table entry above for "Function declaration and definition".
RAISE statement	Stops normal execution of a PL/SQL block or subprogram and transfers control to an exception handler.	Y	See "Using the RAISE statement".
Record definition	Defines a record, which is a composite variable that stores data values of different types (similar to a database row).	Y	See "Using records".
RESTRICT_REFERENCES pragma	Asserts that a subprogram (usually a function) in a package specification or object type specification does not read or write database tables or package variables.	N	TimesTen ignores this.
Result cache	This is a mechanism for caching the results of PL/SQL functions in a shared global area (SGA) that is available to every session that runs your application.	N	Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database does not support the PL/SQL function result cache.
RETURN statement	Immediately completes the execution of a subprogram and returns control to the invoker. Execution resumes with the statement following the subprogram call.	Y	See "RETURN Statement" in Oracle Database PL/SQL Language Reference.
RETURNING INTO clause	Specifies the variables in which to store the values returned by the statement to which the clause belongs.	Y	See "RETURNING INTO clause" and "Examples using RETURNING INTO".
ROLLBACK statement	Undoes database changes made during the current transaction.	Y	See "ROLLBACK" in Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database SQL Reference. Important: COMMIT and ROLLBACK statements close all cursors in TimesTen.
%ROWTYPE attribute	Provides a record type that represents a row in a database table.	Y	See Example 2-2, "Assigning values to variables with the assignment operator".
SAVEPOINT statement	Names and marks the current point in the processing of a transaction.	N	TimesTen does not support savepoints.
SELECT INTO statement	Retrieves values from one row of a table (SELECT) and then stores the values in either variables or a record. With the BULK COLLECT clause (discussed above), this statement retrieves an entire result set at once.	Y	See Example 2-3, "Using SELECT INTO to assign values to variables". Also see "Queries" in Oracle Database PL/SQL Language Reference.
SERIALLY_REUSABLE pragma	Indicates that package state is needed only for the duration of one call to the server.	N	TimesTen does not support the SERIALLY_REUSABLE pragma.
SET TRANSACTION statement	Begins a read-only or read and write transaction.	N	TimesTen does not support the SET TRANSACTION statement.
SOUNDEX SQL function	Returns a character string containing the phonetic representation of a char.	N	TimesTen does not support this function.
SQL cursor	Either explicit or implicit, is used to handle the result set of a SELECT statement.	Y	See "Use of cursors in PL/SQL programs".
SQLCODE function	Returns number code of the most recent exception.	Y	Given the same error condition, error codes returned by the built-in function SQLCODE are the same in TimesTen as in Oracle, although the SQLERRM returns may be different. This is also noted in "TimesTen error messages and SQL codes".
SQLERRM function	Returns the error message associated with the error-number argument.	Y	Given the same error condition, error messages returned by the built-in function SQLERRM are not necessarily the same in TimesTen as in Oracle, although SQLCODE returns are the same. This is also noted in "TimesTen error messages and SQL codes".
Supplied packages	PL/SQL packages supplied with the database.	Y	TimesTen provides a subset of the Oracle Database PL/SQL supplied packages. See Chapter 8, "TimesTen Supplied PL/SQL Packages".
System tables and views	Tables and views provided with the database for administrative purposes.	Y	TimesTen supports a subset of the Oracle Database system tables and views. See "System and Replication Tables" in Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database SQL Reference.
Triggers	Procedures that are stored in the database and activated when specific conditions occur, such as adding a row to a table.	N	TimesTen does not support triggers.
ttPLSQLMemoryStats built-in procedure	Returns statistics about library cache performance and activity.	Y	See "ttPLSQLMemoryStats" in Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database Reference. In Oracle, use the V$LIBRARYCACHE system view to retrieve the same statistical information.
%TYPE attribute	Lets you use the data type of a field, record, nested table, database column, or variable in your own declarations, rather than hardcoding the data type. Particularly useful when declaring variables, fields, and parameters that refer to database columns.	Y	See "PL/SQL variables and constants".
UPDATE statement	Updates the values of one or more columns in all rows of a table or in rows that satisfy a search condition.	Y	See "UPDATE" in Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database SQL Reference.
V$LIBRARYCACHE system view	In Oracle, use this system view to return statistics about library cache performance and activity.		In TimesTen, use the ttPLSQLMemoryStats built-in procedure to retrieve the same statistical information. See that entry above.