175 UTL_RAW

The UTL_RAW package provides SQL functions for manipulating RAW datatypes.

This chapter contains the following topics:

Using UTL_RAW

Overview

This package is necessary because normal SQL functions do not operate on RAWs, and PL/SQL does not allow overloading between a RAW and a CHAR datatype. UTL_RAW also includes subprograms that convert various COBOL number formats to, and from, RAWs.

UTL_RAW is not specific to the database environment, and it may actually be used in other environments. For this reason, the prefix UTL has been given to the package, instead of DBMS.

Operational Notes

UTL_RAW allows a RAW "record" to be composed of many elements. By using the RAW datatype, character set conversion will not be performed, keeping the RAW in its original format when being transferred through remote procedure calls.

With the RAW functions, you can manipulate binary data that was previously limited to the hextoraw and rawtohex functions.

Summary of UTL_RAW Subprograms

Table 175-1 UTL_RAW Package Subprograms

Subprogram Description

BIT_AND Function

Performs bitwise logical "and" of the values in RAW r1 with RAW r2 and returns the "anded" result RAW

BIT_COMPLEMENT Function

Performs bitwise logical "complement" of the values in RAW r and returns the "complement'ed" result RAW

BIT_OR Function

Performs bitwise logical "or" of the values in RAW r1 with RAW r2 and returns the "or'd" result RAW

BIT_XOR Function

Performs bitwise logical "exclusive or" of the values in RAW r1 with RAW r2 and returns the "xor'd" result RAW

CAST_FROM_BINARY_DOUBLE Function

Returns the binary representation of a BINARY_DOUBLE (in RAW)

CAST_FROM_BINARY_FLOAT Function

Returns the binary representation of a BINARY_FLOAT (in RAW)

CAST_FROM_BINARY_INTEGER Function

Returns the binary representation of a BINARY_INTEGER (in RAW)

CAST_FROM_NUMBER Function

Returns the binary representation of a NUMBER (in RAW)

CAST_TO_BINARY_DOUBLE Function

Casts the binary representation of a RAW into a BINARY_DOUBLE

CAST_TO_BINARY_FLOAT Function

Casts the binary representation of a RAW into a BINARY_FLOAT

CAST_TO_BINARY_INTEGER Function

Casts the binary representation of a BINARY_INTEGER (in RAW) into a BINARY_INTEGER

CAST_TO_NUMBER Function

Casts the binary representation of a NUMBER (in RAW) into a NUMBER

CAST_TO_RAW Function

Converts a VARCHAR2 represented using n data bytes into a RAW with n data bytes

CAST_TO_VARCHAR2 Function

Converts a RAW represented using n data bytes into VARCHAR2 with n data bytes

CAST_TO_NVARCHAR2 Function

Converts a RAW represented using n data bytes into NVARCHAR2 with n data bytes

COMPARE Function

Compares RAW r1 against RAW r2

CONCAT Function

Concatenates up to 12 RAWs into a single RAW

CONVERT Function

Converts RAW r from character set from_charset to character set to_charset and returns the resulting RAW

COPIES Function

Returns n copies of r concatenated together

LENGTH Function

Returns the length in bytes of a RAW r

OVERLAY Function

Overlays the specified portion of target RAW with overlay RAW, starting from byte position pos of target and proceeding for len bytes

REVERSE Function

Reverses a byte sequence in RAW r from end to end

SUBSTR Function

Returns len bytes, starting at pos from RAW r

TRANSLATE Function

Translates the bytes in the input RAW r according to the bytes in the translation RAWs from_set and to_set

TRANSLITERATE Function

Converts the bytes in the input RAW r according to the bytes in the transliteration RAWs from_set and to_set

XRANGE Function

Returns a RAW containing all valid 1-byte encodings in succession, beginning with the value start_byte and ending with the value end_byte

BIT_AND Function

This function performs bitwise logical "and" of the values in RAW r1 with RAW r2 and returns the "anded" result RAW.

Syntax

UTL_RAW.BIT_AND (
   r1 IN RAW,
   r2 IN RAW) 
RETURN RAW;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(bit_and, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-2 BIT_AND Function Parameters

Parameter Description

r1

RAW to "and" with r2.

r2

RAW to "and" with r1.

Return Values

Table 175-3 BIT_AND Function Return Values

Return Description

RAW

Containing the "and" of r1 and r2.

NULL

Either r1 or r2 input parameter was NULL.

Usage Notes

If r1 and r2 differ in length, the and operation is terminated after the last byte of the shorter of the two RAWs, and the unprocessed portion of the longer RAW is appended to the partial result. The result length equals the longer of the two input RAWs.

BIT_COMPLEMENT Function

This function performs bitwise logical "complement" of the values in RAW r and returns the complement'ed result RAW. The result length equals the input RAW r length.

Syntax

UTL_RAW.BIT_COMPLEMENT (
   r IN RAW) 
  RETURN RAW;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(bit_complement, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-4 BIT_COMPLEMENT Function Parameters

Parameter Description

r

RAW to perform "complement" operation.

Return Values

Table 175-5 BIT_COMPLEMENT Function Return Values

Return Description

RAW

The "complement" of r1.

NULL

If r input parameter was NULL.

BIT_OR Function

This function performs bitwise logical "or" of the values in RAW r1 with RAW r2 and returns the or'd result RAW.

Syntax

UTL_RAW.BIT_OR (
   r1 IN RAW,
   r2 IN RAW) 
  RETURN RAW;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(bit_or, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-6 BIT_OR Function Parameters

Parameters Description

r1

RAW to "or" with r2.

r2

RAW to "or" with r1.

Return Values

Table 175-7 BIT_OR Function Return Values

Return Description

RAW

Containing the "or" of r1 and r2.

NULL

Either r1 or r2 input parameter was NULL.

Usage Notes

If r1 and r2 differ in length, then the "or" operation is terminated after the last byte of the shorter of the two RAWs, and the unprocessed portion of the longer RAW is appended to the partial result. The result length equals the longer of the two input RAWs.

BIT_XOR Function

This function performs bitwise logical "exclusive or" of the values in RAW r1 with RAW r2 and returns the xor'd result RAW.

Syntax

UTL_RAW.BIT_XOR (
   r1 IN RAW,
   r2 IN RAW) 
  RETURN RAW;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(bit_xor, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-8 BIT_XOR Function Parameters

Parameter Description

r1

RAW to "xor" with r2.

r2

RAW to "xor" with r1.

Return Values

Table 175-9 BIT_XOR Function Return Values

Return Description

RAW

Containing the "xor" of r1 and r2.

NULL

If either r1 or r2 input parameter was NULL.

Usage Notes

If r1 and r2 differ in length, then the "xor" operation is terminated after the last byte of the shorter of the two RAWs, and the unprocessed portion of the longer RAW is appended to the partial result. The result length equals the longer of the two input RAWs.

CAST_FROM_BINARY_DOUBLE Function

This function returns the binary representation of a BINARY_DOUBLE (in RAW).

Syntax

UTL_RAW.CAST_FROM_BINARY_DOUBLE(
   n          IN BINARY_DOUBLE,
   endianess IN PLS_INTEGER DEFAULT 1) 
RETURN RAW;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(cast_from_binary_double, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-10 CAST_FROM_BINARY_DOUBLE Function Parameters

Parameter Description

n

The BINARY_DOUBLE value.

endianess

A PLS_INTEGER representing big-endian or little-endian architecture. The default is big-endian.

Return Values

The binary representation of the BINARY_DOUBLE value, or NULL if the input is NULL.

Usage Notes

  • An 8-byte binary_double value maps to the IEEE 754 double-precision format as follows:

    byte 0: bit 63 ~ bit 56
byte 1: bit 55 ~ bit 48
byte 2: bit 47 ~ bit 40
byte 3: bit 39 ~ bit 32
byte 4: bit 31 ~ bit 24
byte 5: bit 23 ~ bit 16
byte 6: bit 15 ~ bit  8
byte 7: bit  7 ~ bit  0

  • The parameter endianess describes how the bytes of BINARY_DOUBLE are mapped to the bytes of RAW. In the following matrix, rb0 ~ rb7 refer to the bytes in raw and db0 ~ db7 refer to the bytes in BINARY_DOUBLE.


    		 rb0 rb1 rb2 rb3 rb4 rb5 rb6 rb7
    big_endian db0 db1 db2 db3 db4 db5 db6 db7
    little_endian db7 db6 db5 db4 db3 db2 db1 db0

  • In case of machine-endian, the 8 bytes of the BINARY_DOUBLE argument are copied straight across into the RAW return value. The effect is the same if the user has passed big_endian on a big-endian machine, or little_endian on a little-endian machine.

CAST_FROM_BINARY_FLOAT Function

This function returns the binary representation of a BINARY_FLOAT (in RAW).

Syntax

UTL_RAW.CAST_FROM_BINARY_FLOAT(
   n          IN BINARY_FLOAT,
   endianess IN PLS_INTEGER DEFAULT 1) 
RETURN RAW;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(cast_from_binary_float, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-11 CAST_FROM_BINARY_FLOAT Function Parameters

Parameter Description

n

The BINARY_FLOAT value.

endianess

A PLS_INTEGER representing big-endian or little-endian architecture. The default is big-endian.

Return Values

The binary representation (RAW) of the BINARY_FLOAT value, or NULL if the input is NULL.

Usage Notes

  • A 4-byte binary_float value maps to the IEEE 754 single-precision format as follows:

    byte 0: bit 31 ~ bit 24
byte 1: bit 23 ~ bit 16
byte 2: bit 15 ~ bit  8
byte 3: bit 7 ~  bit  0

  • The parameter endianess describes how the bytes of BINARY_FLOAT are mapped to the bytes of RAW. In the following matrix, rb0 ~ rb3 refer to the bytes in RAW and fb0 ~ fb3 refer to the bytes in BINARY_FLOAT.


    		 rb0 rb1 rb2 rb3
    big_endian fbo fb1 fb2 fb3
    little_endian fb3 fb2 fb1 fb0

  • In case of machine-endian, the 4 bytes of the BINARY_FLOAT argument are copied straight across into the RAW return value. The effect is the same if the user has passed big_endian on a big-endian machine, or little_endian on a little-endian machine.

CAST_FROM_BINARY_INTEGER Function

This function returns the binary representation of a BINARY_INTEGER (in RAW).

Syntax

UTL_RAW.CAST_FROM_BINARY_INTEGER (
   n          IN BINARY_INTEGER
   endianess  IN PLS_INTEGER DEFAULT BIG_ENDIAN) 
RETURN RAW;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(cast_from_binary_integer, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-12 CAST_FROM_BINARY_INTEGER Function Parameters

Parameter Description

n

The BINARY_INTEGER value.

endianess

A PLS_INTEGER representing big-endian or little-endian architecture. The default is big-endian.

Return Values

The binary representation of the BINARY_INTEGER value.

CAST_FROM_NUMBER Function

This function returns the binary representation of a NUMBER (in RAW).

Syntax

UTL_RAW.CAST_FROM_NUMBER (
   n  IN NUMBER)
 RETURN RAW;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(cast_from_number, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-13 CAST_FROM_NUMBER Function Parameters

Parameter Description

n

The NUMBER value.

Return Values

The binary representation of the NUMBER value.

CAST_TO_BINARY_DOUBLE Function

This function casts the binary representation of a BINARY_DOUBLE (in RAW) into a BINARY_DOUBLE.

Syntax

UTL_RAW.CAST_TO_BINARY_DOUBLE (
   r          IN RAW
   endianess  IN PLS_INTEGER DEFAULT 1) 
RETURN BINARY_DOUBLE;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(cast_to_binary_double, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-14 CAST_TO_BINARY_DOUBLE Function Parameters

Parameter Description

r

The binary representation of a BINARY_INTEGER.

endianess

A PLS_INTEGER representing big-endian or little-endian architecture. The default is big-endian.

Return Values

The BINARY_DOUBLE value.

Usage Notes

  • If the RAW argument is more than 8 bytes, only the first 8 bytes are used and the rest of the bytes are ignored. If the result is -0, +0 is returned. If the result is NaN, the value BINARY_DOUBLE_NAN is returned.

  • If the RAW argument is less than 8 bytes, a VALUE_ERROR exception is raised.

  • An 8-byte binary_double value maps to the IEEE 754 double-precision format as follows:

    byte 0: bit 63 ~ bit 56
byte 1: bit 55 ~ bit 48
byte 2: bit 47 ~ bit 40
byte 3: bit 39 ~ bit 32
byte 4: bit 31 ~ bit 24
byte 5: bit 23 ~ bit 16
byte 6: bit 15 ~ bit  8
byte 7: bit  7 ~ bit  0

  • The parameter endianess describes how the bytes of BINARY_DOUBLE are mapped to the bytes of RAW. In the following matrix, rb0 ~ rb7 refer to the bytes in raw and db0 ~ db7 refer to the bytes in BINARY_DOUBLE.


    		 rb0 rb1 rb2 rb3 rb4 rb5 rb6 rb7
    big_endian db0 db1 db2 db3 db4 db5 db6 db7
    little_endian db7 db6 db5 db4 db3 db2 db1 db0

  • In case of machine-endian, the 8 bytes of the RAW argument are copied straight across into the BINARY_DOUBLE return value. The effect is the same if the user has passed big_endian on a big-endian machine, or little_endian on a little-endian machine.

CAST_TO_BINARY_FLOAT Function

This function casts the binary representation of a BINARY_FLOAT (in RAW) into a BINARY_FLOAT.

Syntax

UTL_RAW.CAST_TO_BINARY_FLOAT (
   r          IN RAW
   endianess  IN PLS_INTEGER DEFAULT 1) 
RETURN BINARY_FLOAT;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(cast_to_binary_float, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-15 CAST_TO_BINARY_FLOAT Function Parameters

Parameter Description

r

The binary representation of a BINARY_FLOAT.

endianess

A PLS_INTEGER representing big-endian or little-endian architecture. The default is big-endian.

Return Values

The BINARY_FLOAT value.

Usage Notes

  • If the RAW argument is more than 4 bytes, only the first 4 bytes are used and the rest of the bytes are ignored. If the result is -0, +0 is returned. If the result is NaN, the value BINARY_FLOAT_NAN is returned.

  • If the RAW argument is less than 4 bytes, a VALUE_ERROR exception is raised.

  • A 4-byte binary_float value maps to the IEEE 754 single-precision format as follows:

    byte 0: bit 31 ~ bit 24
byte 1: bit 23 ~ bit 16
byte 2: bit 15 ~ bit  8
byte 3: bit 7 ~  bit  0

  • The parameter endianess describes how the bytes of BINARY_FLOAT are mapped to the bytes of RAW. In the following matrix, rb0 ~ rb3 refer to the bytes in RAW and fb0 ~ fb3 refer to the bytes in BINARY_FLOAT.


    		 rb0 rb1 rb2 rb3
    big_endian fbo fb1 fb2 fb3
    little_endian fb3 fb2 fb1 fb0

  • In case of machine-endian, the 4 bytes of the RAW argument are copied straight across into the BINARY_FLOAT return value. The effect is the same if the user has passed big_endian on a big-endian machine, or little_endian on a little-endian machine.

CAST_TO_BINARY_INTEGER Function

This function casts the binary representation of a BINARY_INTEGER (in RAW) into a BINARY_INTEGER.

Syntax

UTL_RAW.CAST_TO_BINARY_INTEGER (
   r          IN RAW
   endianess  IN PLS_INTEGER DEFAULT BIG_ENDIAN) 
RETURN BINARY_INTEGER;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(cast_to_binary_integer, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-16 CAST_TO_BINARY_INTEGER Function Parameters

Parameter Description

r

The binary representation of a BINARY_INTEGER.

endianess

A PLS_INTEGER representing big-endian or little-endian architecture. The default is big-endian.

Return Values

The BINARY_INTEGER value

CAST_TO_NUMBER Function

This function casts the binary representation of a NUMBER (in RAW) into a NUMBER.

Syntax

UTL_RAW.CAST_TO_NUMBER (
   r  IN RAW) 
 RETURN NUMBER;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(cast_to_number, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-17 CAST_TO_NUMBER function Parameters

Parameter Description

r

The binary representation of a NUMBER

Return Values

The NUMBER value.

CAST_TO_RAW Function

This function converts a VARCHAR2 represented using n data bytes into a RAW with n data bytes. The data is not modified in any way; only its datatype is recast to a RAW datatype.

Syntax

UTL_RAW.CAST_TO_RAW (
   c  IN VARCHAR2) 
RETURN RAW;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(cast_to_raw, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-18 CAST_TO_RAW Function Parameters

Parameter Description

c

VARCHAR2 to be changed to a RAW.

Return Values

Table 175-19 CAST_TO_RAW Function Return Values

Return Description

RAW

Containing the same data as the input VARCHAR2 and equal byte length as the input VARCHAR2 and without a leading length field.

NULL

If c input parameter was NULL.

CAST_TO_VARCHAR2 Function

This function converts a RAW represented using n data bytes into VARCHAR2 with n data bytes.

Note:

When casting to a VARCHAR2, the current Globalization Support character set is used for the characters within that VARCHAR2.

Syntax

UTL_RAW.CAST_TO_VARCHAR2 (
   r IN RAW) 
RETURN VARCHAR2;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(cast_to_VARCHAR2, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-20 CAST_TO_VARCHAR2 Function Parameters

Parameter Description

r

RAW (without leading length field) to be changed to a VARCHAR2.

Return Values

Table 175-21 CAST_TO_VARCHAR2 Function Return Values

Return Description

VARCHAR2

Containing having the same data as the input RAW.

NULL

If r input parameter was NULL.

CAST_TO_NVARCHAR2 Function

This function converts a RAW represented using n data bytes into NVARCHAR2 with n data bytes.

Note:

When casting to a NVARCHAR2, the current Globalization Support character set is used for the characters within that NVARCHAR2.

Syntax

UTL_RAW.CAST_TO_NVARCHAR2 (
   r IN RAW) 
RETURN NVARCHAR2;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(cast_to_NVARCHAR2, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-22 CAST_TO_NVARCHAR2 Function Parameters

Parameter Description

r

RAW (without leading length field) to be changed to a NVARCHAR2).

Return Values

Table 175-23 CAST_TO_NVARCHAR2 Function Return Values

Return Description

NVARCHAR2

Containing having the same data as the input RAW.

NULL

If r input parameter was NULL.

COMPARE Function

This function compares RAW r1 against RAW r2. If r1 and r2 differ in length, then the shorter RAW is extended on the right with pad if necessary.

Syntax

UTL_RAW.COMPARE (
   r1  IN RAW,
   r2  IN RAW,
   pad IN RAW DEFAULT NULL) 
  RETURN NUMBER;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(compare, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-24 COMPARE Function Parameters

Parameter Description

r1

1st RAW to be compared, may be NULL or 0 length.

r2

2nd RAW to be compared, may be NULL or 0 length.

pad

This is an optional parameter. Byte to extend whichever of r1 or r2 is shorter. The default: x'00'

Return Values

Table 175-25 COMPARE Function Return Values

Return Description

NUMBER

Equals 0 if RAW byte strings are both NULL or identical; or,

Equals position (numbered from 1) of the first mismatched byte.

CONCAT Function

This function concatenates up to 12 RAWs into a single RAW. If the concatenated size exceeds 32K, then an error is returned

Syntax

UTL_RAW.CONCAT (  
   r1  IN RAW DEFAULT NULL,
   r2  IN RAW DEFAULT NULL,
   r3  IN RAW DEFAULT NULL,
   r4  IN RAW DEFAULT NULL,
   r5  IN RAW DEFAULT NULL,
   r6  IN RAW DEFAULT NULL,
   r7  IN RAW DEFAULT NULL,
   r8  IN RAW DEFAULT NULL,
   r9  IN RAW DEFAULT NULL,
   r10 IN RAW DEFAULT NULL,
   r11 IN RAW DEFAULT NULL,
   r12 IN RAW DEFAULT NULL) 
  RETURN RAW;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(concat, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

r1....r12 are the RAW items to concatenate.

Return Values

Table 175-26 CONCAT Function Return Values

Return Description

RAW

Containing the items concatenated.

Exceptions

There is an error if the sum of the lengths of the inputs exceeds the maximum allowable length for a RAW, which is 32767 bytes.

CONVERT Function

This function converts RAW r from character set from_charset to character set to_charset and returns the resulting RAW.

Both from_charset and to_charset must be supported character sets defined to the Oracle server.

Syntax

UTL_RAW.CONVERT (
   r            IN RAW,
   to_charset   IN VARCHAR2,
   from_charset IN VARCHAR2) 
  RETURN RAW;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(convert, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-27 CONVERT Function Parameters

Parameter Description

r

RAW byte-string to be converted.

to_charset

Name of Globalization Support character set to which r is converted.

from_charset

Name of Globalization Support character set in which r is supplied.

Return Values

Table 175-28 CONVERT Function Return Values

Return Description

RAW

Byte string r converted according to the specified character sets.

Exceptions

Table 175-29 CONVERT Function Exceptions

Error Description

VALUE_ERROR

Either:

- r missing, NULL, or 0 length

- from_charset or to_charset missing, NULL, or 0 length

- from_charset or to_charset names invalid or unsupported

COPIES Function

This function returns n copies of r concatenated together.

Syntax

UTL_RAW.COPIES (
   r IN RAW,
   n IN NUMBER) 
  RETURN RAW;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(copies, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-30 COPIES Function Parameters

Parameters Description

r

RAW to be copied

n

Number of times to copy the RAW (must be positive).

Return Values

This returns the RAW copied n times.

Exceptions

Table 175-31 COPIES Function Exceptions

Error Description

VALUE_ERROR

Either:

- r is missing, NULL or 0 length

- n < 1

- Length of result exceeds maximum length of a RAW

LENGTH Function

This function returns the length in bytes of a RAW r.

Syntax

UTL_RAW.LENGTH (
   r  IN RAW) 
RETURN NUMBER;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(length, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-32 LENGTH Function Parameters

Parameter Description

r

The RAW byte stream to be measured.

Return Values

Table 175-33 LENGTH Function Return Values

Return Description

NUMBER

The current length of the RAW.

OVERLAY Function

This function overlays the specified portion of target RAW with overlay_str RAW, starting from byte position pos of target and proceeding for len bytes.

Syntax

UTL_RAW.OVERLAY (
   overlay_str IN RAW,
   target      IN RAW,
   pos         IN BINARY_INTEGER DEFAULT 1,
   len         IN BINARY_INTEGER DEFAULT NULL,
   pad         IN RAW            DEFAULT NULL) 
  RETURN RAW;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(overlay, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-34 OVERLAY Function Parameters

Parameters Description

overlay_str

Byte-string used to overlay target.

target

Byte-string which is to be overlaid.

pos

Position in target (numbered from 1) to start overlay.

len

The number of target bytes to overlay.

pad

Pad byte used when overlay len exceeds overlay_str length or pos exceeds target length.

Defaults and Optional Parameters

Table 175-35 OVERLAY Function Optional Parameters

Optional Parameter Description

pos

1

len

To the length of overlay_str

pad

x'00'

Return Values

Table 175-36 OVERLAY Function Return Values

Return Description

RAW

The target byte_string overlaid as specified.

Usage Notes

If overlay_str has less than len bytes, then it is extended to len bytes using the pad byte. If overlay_str exceeds len bytes, then the extra bytes in overlay_str are ignored. If len bytes beginning at position pos of target exceeds the length of target, then target is extended to contain the entire length of overlay_str.

If len is specified, it must be greater than or equal to 0. If pos is specified, it must be greater than or equal to 1. If pos exceeds the length of target, then target is padded with pad bytes to position pos, and target is further extended with overlay_str bytes.

Exceptions

Table 175-37 OVERLAY Function Exceptions

Error Description

VALUE_ERROR

Either:

- Overlay_str is NULL or has 0 length

- Target is missing or undefined

- Length of target exceeds maximum length of a RAW

- len < 0

- pos < 1

REVERSE Function

This function reverses a byte sequence in RAW r from end to end. For example, x'0102F3' would be reversed to x'F30201', and 'xyz' would be reversed to 'zyx'.The result length is the same as the input RAW length.

Syntax

UTL_RAW.REVERSE (
   r IN RAW) 
  RETURN RAW;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(reverse, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-38 REVERSE Function Parameters

Parameter Description

r

RAW to reverse.

Return Values

Table 175-39 REVERSE Function Return Values

Return Description

RAW

Containing the "reverse" of r.

Exceptions

Table 175-40 REVERSE Function Exceptions

Error Description

VALUE_ERROR

R is NULL or has 0 length.

SUBSTR Function

This function returns len bytes, starting at pos from RAW r.

Syntax

UTL_RAW.SUBSTR (
   r   IN RAW,
   pos IN BINARY_INTEGER,
   len IN BINARY_INTEGER DEFAULT NULL) 
  RETURN RAW;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(substr, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-41 SUBSTR Function Parameters

Parameter Description

r

The RAW byte-string from which a portion is extracted.

pos

The byte position in r at which to begin extraction.

len

The number of bytes from pos to extract from r (optional).

Defaults and Optional Parameters

Table 175-42 SUBSTR Function Exceptions

Optional Parameter Description

len

Position pos through to the end of r.

Return Values

Table 175-43 SUBSTR Function Return Values

Return Description

portion of r

Beginning at pos for len bytes long.

NULL

r input parameter was NULL.

Usage Notes

If pos is positive, then SUBSTR counts from the beginning of r to find the first byte. If pos is negative, then SUBSTR counts backward from the end of the r. The value pos cannot be 0.

If len is omitted, then SUBSTR returns all bytes to the end of r. The value len cannot be less than 1.

Exceptions

Table 175-44 SUBSTR Function Exceptions

Error Description

VALUE_ERROR

VALUE_ERROR is returned if:

  • pos = 0 or > length of r

  • len < 1 or > length of r - (pos-1)

TRANSLATE Function

This function translates the bytes in the input RAW r according to the bytes in the translation RAWs from_set and to_set. If a byte in r has a matching byte in from_set, then it is replaced by the byte in the corresponding position in to_set, or deleted.

Bytes in r, but undefined in from_set, are copied to the result. Only the first (leftmost) occurrence of a byte in from_set is used. Subsequent duplicates are not scanned and are ignored.

Syntax

UTL_RAW.TRANSLATE (
   r        IN RAW,
   from_set IN RAW,
   to_set   IN RAW) 
  RETURN RAW;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(translate, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-45 TRANSLATE Function Parameters

Parameter Description

r

RAW source byte-string to be translated.

from_set

RAW byte-codes to be translated, if present in r.

to_set

RAW byte-codes to which corresponding from_str bytes are translated.

Return Values

Table 175-46 TRANSLATE Function Return Values

Return Description

RAW

Translated byte-string.

Usage Notes

If to_set is shorter than from_set, then the extra from_set bytes have no translation correspondence and any bytes in r matching.

Note:

Difference from TRANSLITERATE:

- Translation RAWs have no defaults.

- r bytes undefined in the to_set translation RAW are deleted.

- Result RAW may be shorter than input RAW r.

Exceptions

Table 175-47 TRANSLATE Function Exceptions

Error Description

VALUE_ERROR

Either:

- r is NULL or has 0 length

- from_set is NULL or has 0 length

- to_set is NULL or has 0 length

TRANSLITERATE Function

This function converts the bytes in the input RAW r according to the bytes in the transliteration RAWs from_set and to_set. Successive bytes in r are looked up in the from_set, and, if not found, copied unaltered to the result RAW. If found, then they are replaced in the result RAW by either corresponding bytes in the to_set, or the pad byte when no correspondence exists.

Bytes in r, but undefined in from_set, are copied to the result. Only the first (leftmost) occurrence of a byte in from_set is used. Subsequent duplicates are not scanned and are ignored. The result RAW is always the same length as r.

Syntax

UTL_RAW.TRANSLITERATE (
   r        IN RAW,
   to_set   IN RAW DEFAULT NULL,
   from_set IN RAW DEFAULT NULL,
   pad      IN RAW DEFAULT NULL)
  RETURN RAW;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(transliterate, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-48 TRANSLITERATE Function Parameters

Parameter Description

r

RAW input byte-string to be converted.

from_set

RAW byte-codes to be converted, if present in r (any length).

to_set

RAW byte-codes to which corresponding from_set bytes are converted (any length).

pad

1 byte used when to-set is shorter than the from_set.

Defaults and Optional Parameters

Table 175-49 TRANSLITERATE Function Optional Parameters

Optional Parameter Description

from_set

x f00' through x fff'

to_set

To the NULL string and effectively extended with pad to the length of from_set as necessary.

pad

x'00'.

Return Values

Table 175-50 TRANSLITERATE Function Return Values

Return Description

RAW

Converted byte-string.

Usage Notes

If the to_set is shorter than the from_set, then the pad byte is placed in the result RAW when a selected from_set byte has no corresponding to_set byte (as if the to_set were extended to the same length as the from_set with pad bytes).

Note:

Difference from TRANSLATE:

- r bytes undefined in to_set are padded.

- Result RAW is always same length as input RAW r.

Exceptions

Table 175-51 TRANSLITERATE Function Exceptions

Error Description

VALUE_ERROR

R is NULL or has 0 length.

XRANGE Function

This function returns a RAW containing all valid 1-byte encodings in succession, beginning with the value start_byte and ending with the value end_byte. If start_byte is greater than end_byte, then the succession of resulting bytes begins with start_byte, wraps through x fFF f to x f00 f, and ends at end_byte. If specified, start_byte and end_byte must be single-byte RAWs.

Syntax

UTL_RAW.XRANGE (
   start_byte IN RAW DEFAULT NULL,
   end_byte   IN RAW DEFAULT NULL) 
  RETURN RAW;

Pragmas

pragma restrict_references(xrange, WNDS, RNDS, WNPS, RNPS);

Parameters

Table 175-52 XRANGE Function Parameters

Parameters Description

start_byte

Beginning byte-code value of resulting sequence.

end_byte

Ending byte-code value of resulting sequence.

Defaults and Optional Parameters

start_byte - x f00 f
end_byte   - x fFF f

Return Values

Table 175-53 XRANGE Function Return Values

Return Description

RAW

Containing succession of 1-byte hexadecimal encodings.