This chapter describes the Metadata application programming interface (API), which provides a means for you to do the following:
Retrieve an object's metadata as XML
Transform the XML in a variety of ways, including transforming it into SQL DDL
Submit the XML to re-create the object extracted by the retrieval
The following topics are discussed in this chapter:
Over time, as you have used the Oracle database, you may have developed your own code for extracting metadata from the dictionary, manipulating the metadata (adding columns, changing column datatypes, and so on) and then converting the metadata to DDL so that you could re-create the object on the same or another database. Keeping that code updated to support new dictionary features has probably proven to be challenging.
The Metadata API eliminates the need for you to write and maintain your own code for metadata extraction. It provides a centralized facility for the extraction, manipulation, and resubmission of dictionary metadata. And it supports all dictionary objects at their most current level.
Although the Metadata API can dramatically decrease the amount of custom code you are writing and maintaining, it does not involve any changes to your normal database procedures. The Metadata API is installed in the same way as data dictionary views, by running catproc
.sql
to invoke a SQL script at database installation time. Once it is installed, it is available whenever the instance is operational, even in restricted mode.
The Metadata API does not require you to make any source code changes when you change database versions because it is upwardly compatible across different Oracle versions. XML documents retrieved by one version can be processed by the submit interface on the same or later version. For example, XML documents retrieved by an Oracle9i database can be submitted to Oracle Database 10g.
For the purposes of the Metadata API, every entity in the database is modeled as an object that belongs to an object type. For example, the table scott.emp
is an object and its object type is TABLE
. When you fetch an object's metadata you must specify the object type.
In order to fetch a particular object or set of objects within an object type, you specify a filter. Different filters are defined for each object type. For example, two of the filters defined for the TABLE
object type are SCHEMA
and NAME
. They allow you to say, for example, that you want the table whose schema is scott
and whose name is emp
.
The Metadata API makes use of XML (Extensible Markup Language) and XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation). The Metadata API represents object metadata as XML because it is a universal format that can be easily parsed and transformed. The Metadata API uses XSLT to transform XML documents into either other XML documents or into SQL DDL.
You can use the Metadata API to specify one or more transforms (XSLT scripts) to be applied to the XML when the metadata is fetched (or when it is resubmitted). The API provides some predefined transforms, including one named DDL that transforms the XML document into SQL creation DDL.
You can then specify conditions on the transform by using transform parameters. You can also specify optional parse items to access specific attributes of an object's metadata. For more details about all of these options, as well as examples of their implementation, see the following sections:
The Metadata API's retrieval interface lets you specify the kind of object to be retrieved. This can be either a particular object type (such as a table, index, or procedure) or a heterogeneous collection of object types that form a logical unit (such as a database export or schema export). By default, metadata that you fetch is returned in an XML document.
Note: To access objects that are not in your own schema you must have theSELECT_CATALOG_ROLE role. However, roles are disabled within many PL/SQL objects (stored procedures, functions, definer's rights packages). Therefore, if you are writing a PL/SQL program that will access objects in another schema (or, in general, any objects for which you need the SELECT_CATALOG_ROLE role), you must put the code in an invoker's rights package. |
You can use the programmatic interface for casual browsing, or you can use it to develop applications. You would use the browsing interface if you simply wanted to make ad hoc queries of the system metadata. You would use the programmatic interface when you want to extract dictionary metadata as part of an application. In such cases, the procedures provided by the Metadata API can be used in place of SQL scripts and customized code that you may be currently using to do the same thing.
When you retrieve metadata, you use the DBMS_METADATA
PL/SQL package, which contains procedures for the Metadata API. The following examples illustrate the programmatic and browsing interfaces.
See Also:
|
Example 18-1 provides a basic demonstration of how you might use the Metadata API programmatic interface to retrieve metadata for one table. It creates a Metadata API program that creates a function named get_table_md
. This function returns metadata for one table.
Example 18-1 Using the DBMS_METADATA Programmatic Interface to Retrieve Data
Create a Metadata API program that creates a function named get_table_md
, which will return the metadata for one table, timecards
, in the hr
schema. The content of such a program looks as follows. (For this example, we will name the program metadata_program
.sql
.)
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION get_table_md RETURN CLOB IS -- Define local variables. h NUMBER; --handle returned by OPEN th NUMBER; -- handle returned by ADD_TRANSFORM doc CLOB; BEGIN -- Specify the object type. h := DBMS_METADATA.OPEN('TABLE'); -- Use filters to specify the particular object desired. DBMS_METADATA.SET_FILTER(h,'SCHEMA','HR'); DBMS_METADATA.SET_FILTER(h,'NAME','TIMECARDS'); -- Request that the metadata be transformed into creation DDL. th := DBMS_METADATA.ADD_TRANSFORM(h,'DDL'); -- Fetch the object. doc := DBMS_METADATA.FETCH_CLOB(h); -- Release resources. DBMS_METADATA.CLOSE(h); RETURN doc; END; /
Connect as hr
/hr
.
Run the program to create the get_table_md
function:
SQL> @metadata_program
Use the newly created get_table_md
function in a select operation. To generate complete, uninterrupted output, set the PAGESIZE
to 0 and set LONG
to some large number, as shown, before executing your query:
SQL> SET PAGESIZE 0 SQL> SET LONG 1000000 SQL> SELECT get_table_md FROM dual;
The output, which shows the metadata for the timecards
table in the hr
schema, looks similar to the following:
CREATE TABLE "HR"."TIMECARDS" ( "EMPLOYEE_ID" NUMBER(6,0), "WEEK" NUMBER(2,0), "JOB_ID" VARCHAR2(10), "HOURS_WORKED" NUMBER(4,2), FOREIGN KEY ("EMPLOYEE_ID") REFERENCES "HR"."EMPLOYEES" ("EMPLOYEE_ID") ENABLE ) PCTFREE 10 PCTUSED 40 INITRANS 1 MAXTRANS 255 NOCOMPRESS LOGGING STORAGE(INITIAL 65536 NEXT 1048576 MINEXTENTS 1 MAXEXTENTS 2147483645 PCTINCREASE 0 FREELISTS 1 FREELIST GROUPS 1 BUFFER_POOL DEFAULT) TABLESPACE "EXAMPLE"
You can use the browsing interface and get the same results, as shown in Example 18-2.
Example 18-2 Using the DBMS_METADATA Browsing Interface to Retrieve Data
SQL> SET PAGESIZE 0 SQL> SET LONG 1000000 SQL> SELECT DBMS_METADATA.GET_DDL('TABLE','TIMECARDS','HR') FROM dual;
The results will be the same as shown in step 5 for Example 18-1.
In Example 18-1, the FETCH_CLOB
procedure was called only once, because it was known that there was only one object. However, you can also retrieve multiple objects, for example, all the tables in schema scott
. To do this, you need to use the following construct:
LOOP doc := DBMS_METADATA.FETCH_CLOB(h); -- -- When there are no more objects to be retrieved, FETCH_CLOB returns NULL. -- EXIT WHEN doc IS NULL; END LOOP;
Example 18-3 demonstrates use of this construct and retrieving multiple objects.
Example 18-3 Retrieving Multiple Objects
-- Because not all objects can be returned, they are stored in a table and queried at the end. CONNECT scott/tiger DROP TABLE my_metadata; CREATE TABLE my_metadata (md clob); CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE get_tables_md IS -- Define local variables h NUMBER; -- handle returned by 'OPEN' th NUMBER; -- handle returned by 'ADD_TRANSFORM' doc CLOB; -- metadata is returned in a CLOB BEGIN -- Specify the object type. h := DBMS_METADATA.OPEN('TABLE'); -- Use filters to specify the schema. DBMS_METADATA.SET_FILTER(h,'SCHEMA','SCOTT'); -- Request that the metadata be transformed into creation DDL. th := DBMS_METADATA.ADD_TRANSFORM(h,'DDL'); -- Fetch the objects. LOOP doc := DBMS_METADATA.FETCH_CLOB(h); -- When there are no more objects to be retrieved, FETCH_CLOB returns NULL. EXIT WHEN doc IS NULL; -- Store the metadata in a table. INSERT INTO my_metadata(md) VALUES (doc); COMMIT; END LOOP; -- Release resources. DBMS_METADATA.CLOSE(h); END; / -- Execute the procedure. EXECUTE get_tables_md; -- See what was retrieved. SET LONG 9000000 SET PAGES 0 SELECT * FROM my_metadata;
You can use transform parameters to specify conditions on the transforms you add. To do this, you use the SET_TRANSFORM_PARAM
procedure. For example, if you have added the DDL
transform for a TABLE
object, you can specify the SEGMENT_ATTRIBUTES
transform parameter to indicate that you do not want segment attributes (physical, storage, logging, and so on) to appear in the DDL. The default is that segment attributes do appear in the DDL.
Example 18-4 shows use of the SET_TRANSFORM_PARAM
procedure.
Example 18-4 Placing Conditions on Transforms
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION get_table_md RETURN CLOB IS -- Define local variables. h NUMBER; -- handle returned by 'OPEN' th NUMBER; -- handle returned by 'ADD_TRANSFORM' doc CLOB; BEGIN -- Specify the object type. h := DBMS_METADATA.OPEN('TABLE'); -- Use filters to specify the particular object desired. DBMS_METADATA.SET_FILTER(h,'SCHEMA','HR'); DBMS_METADATA.SET_FILTER(h,'NAME','TIMECARDS'); -- Request that the metadata be transformed into creation DDL. th := dbms_metadata.add_transform(h,'DDL'); -- Specify that segment attributes are not to be returned. -- Note that this call uses the TRANSFORM handle, not the OPEN handle. DBMS_METADATA.SET_TRANSFORM_PARAM(th,'SEGMENT_ATTRIBUTES',false); -- Fetch the object. doc := DBMS_METADATA.FETCH_CLOB(h); -- Release resources. DBMS_METADATA.CLOSE(h); RETURN doc; END; /
When you execute the SQL statement (SELECT get_table_md FROM DUAL;
), the output looks similar to the following:
CREATE TABLE "HR"."TIMECARDS" ( "EMPLOYEE_ID" NUMBER(6,0), "WEEK" NUMBER(2,0), "JOB_ID" VARCHAR2(10), "HOURS_WORKED" NUMBER(4,2), FOREIGN KEY ("EMPLOYEE_ID") REFERENCES "HR"."EMPLOYEES" ("EMPLOYEE_ID") ENABLE )
The examples shown up to this point have used a single transform, the DDL
transform. The Metadata API also enables you to specify multiple transforms, with the output of the first being the input to the next and so on.
Oracle supplies a transform called MODIFY
that modifies an XML document. You can do things like change schema names or tablespace names. To do this, you use remap parameters and the SET_REMAP_PARAM
procedure.
Example 18-5 shows a sample use of the SET_REMAP_PARAM
procedure. It first adds the MODIFY
transform and specifies remap parameters to change the schema name from hr
to scott
. It then adds the DDL
transform. The output of the MODIFY
transform is an XML document that becomes the input to the DDL
transform. The end result is the creation DDL for the timecards
table with all instances of schema hr
changed to scott
.
Example 18-5 Modifying an XML Document
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION remap_schema RETURN CLOB IS -- Define local variables. h NUMBER; --handle returned by OPEN th NUMBER; -- handle returned by ADD_TRANSFORM doc CLOB; BEGIN -- Specify the object type. h := DBMS_METADATA.OPEN('TABLE'); -- Use filters to specify the particular object desired. DBMS_METADATA.SET_FILTER(h,'SCHEMA','HR'); DBMS_METADATA.SET_FILTER(h,'NAME','TIMECARDS'); -- Request that the schema name be modified. th := DBMS_METADATA.ADD_TRANSFORM(h,'MODIFY'); DBMS_METADATA.SET_REMAP_PARAM(th,'REMAP_SCHEMA','HR','SCOTT'); -- Request that the metadata be transformed into creation DDL. th := DBMS_METADATA.ADD_TRANSFORM(h,'DDL'); -- Specify that segment attributes are not to be returned. DBMS_METADATA.SET_TRANSFORM_PARAM(th,'SEGMENT_ATTRIBUTES',false); -- Fetch the object. doc := DBMS_METADATA.FETCH_CLOB(h); -- Release resources. DBMS_METADATA.CLOSE(h); RETURN doc; END; /
When you execute the SQL statement (SELECT
remap_schema
FROM
DUAL
;), the output looks similar to the following:
CREATE TABLE "SCOTT"."TIMECARDS" ( "EMPLOYEE_ID" NUMBER(6,0), "WEEK" NUMBER(2,0), "JOB_ID" VARCHAR2(10), "HOURS_WORKED" NUMBER(4,2), FOREIGN KEY ("EMPLOYEE_ID") REFERENCES "SCOTT"."EMPLOYEES" ("EMPLOYEE_ID") ENABLE )
If you are familiar with XSLT, you can add your own user-written transforms to process the XML.
It is often desirable to access specific attributes of an object's metadata, for example, its name or schema. You could get this information by parsing the returned metadata, but the Metadata API provides another mechanism; you can specify parse items, specific attributes that will be parsed out of the metadata and returned in a separate data structure. To do this, you use the SET_PARSE_ITEM
procedure.
Example 18-6 fetches all tables in a schema. For each table, a parse item is used to get its name. The name is then used to get all indexes on the table. The example illustrates the use of the FETCH_DDL
function, which returns metadata in a sys
.ku$_ddls
object.
This example assumes you are connected to a schema that contains some tables and indexes. It also creates a table named my_metadata
.
Example 18-6 Using Parse Items to Access Specific Metadata Attributes
DROP TABLE my_metadata; CREATE TABLE my_metadata ( object_type VARCHAR2(30), name VARCHAR2(30), md CLOB); CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE get_tables_and_indexes IS -- Define local variables. h1 NUMBER; -- handle returned by OPEN for tables h2 NUMBER; -- handle returned by OPEN for indexes th1 NUMBER; -- handle returned by ADD_TRANSFORM for tables th2 NUMBER; -- handle returned by ADD_TRANSFORM for indexes doc sys.ku$_ddls; -- metadata is returned in sys.ku$_ddls, -- a nested table of sys.ku$_ddl objects ddl CLOB; -- creation DDL for an object pi sys.ku$_parsed_items; -- parse items are returned in this object -- which is contained in sys.ku$_ddl objname VARCHAR2(30); -- the parsed object name BEGIN -- This procedure has an outer loop that fetches tables, -- and an inner loop that fetches indexes. -- Specify the object type: TABLE. h1 := DBMS_METADATA.OPEN('TABLE'); -- Request that the table name be returned as a parse item. DBMS_METADATA.SET_PARSE_ITEM(h1,'NAME'); -- Request that the metadata be transformed into creation DDL. th1 := DBMS_METADATA.ADD_TRANSFORM(h1,'DDL'); -- Specify that segment attributes are not to be returned. DBMS_METADATA.SET_TRANSFORM_PARAM(th1,'SEGMENT_ATTRIBUTES',false); -- Set up the outer loop: fetch the TABLE objects. LOOP doc := dbms_metadata.fetch_ddl(h1); -- When there are no more objects to be retrieved, FETCH_DDL returns NULL. EXIT WHEN doc IS NULL; -- Loop through the rows of the ku$_ddls nested table. FOR i IN doc.FIRST..doc.LAST LOOP ddl := doc(i).ddlText; pi := doc(i).parsedItems; -- Loop through the returned parse items. IF pi IS NOT NULL AND pi.COUNT > 0 THEN FOR j IN pi.FIRST..pi.LAST LOOP IF pi(j).item='NAME' THEN objname := pi(j).value; END IF; END LOOP; END IF; -- Insert information about this object into our table. INSERT INTO my_metadata(object_type, name, md) VALUES ('TABLE',objname,ddl); COMMIT; END LOOP; -- Now fetch indexes using the parsed table name as -- a BASE_OBJECT_NAME filter. -- Specify the object type. h2 := DBMS_METADATA.OPEN('INDEX'); -- The base object is the table retrieved in the outer loop. DBMS_METADATA.SET_FILTER(h2,'BASE_OBJECT_NAME',objname); -- Exclude system-generated indexes. DBMS_METADATA.SET_FILTER(h2,'SYSTEM_GENERATED',false); -- Request that the metadata be transformed into creation DDL. th2 := DBMS_METADATA.ADD_TRANSFORM(h2,'DDL'); -- Specify that segment attributes are not to be returned. DBMS_METADATA.SET_TRANSFORM_PARAM(th2,'SEGMENT_ATTRIBUTES',false); -- Set up the inner loop: fetch the INDEX objects. LOOP DDL := DBMS_METADATA.FETCH_CLOB(h2); -- When there are no more objects to be retrieved, FETCH_CLOB returns NULL. EXIT WHEN ddl IS NULL; -- Store the metadata in our table. INSERT INTO my_metadata(object_type, name, md) VALUES ('INDEX',NULL,ddl); COMMIT; END LOOP; DBMS_METADATA.CLOSE(h2); END LOOP; DBMS_METADATA.CLOSE(h1); END; / -- Execute the procedure. EXECUTE get_tables_and_indexes; -- Perform a query to check what was retrieved. SET LONG 9000000 SET PAGES 0 SELECT * FROM my_metadata;
When you fetch metadata for an object, you may want to use it to re-create the object in a different database or schema.
You may not be ready to make remapping decisions when you fetch the metadata. You may want to defer these decisions until later. To accomplish this, you fetch the metadata as XML and store it in a file or table. Later you can use the submit interface to re-create the object.
The submit interface is similar in form to the retrieval interface. It has an OPENW
procedure in which you specify the object type of the object to be created. You can specify transforms, transform parameters, and parse items. You can call the CONVERT
function to convert the XML to DDL, or you can call the PUT
function to both convert XML to DDL and submit the DDL to create the object.
See Also: Table 18-3 for descriptions ofDBMS_METADATA procedures and functions used in the submit interface |
Example 18-7 fetches the XML for a table in one schema, and then uses the submit interface to re-create the table in another schema.
Example 18-7 Using the Submit Interface to Re-Create a Retrieved Object
-- Connect as a privileged user. CONNECT system/manager -- Create an invoker's rights package to hold the procedure -- because access to objects in another schema requires the -- SELECT_CATALOG_ROLE role. In a definer's rights PL/SQL object -- (such as a procedure or function), roles are disabled. CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE example_pkg AUTHID current_user IS PROCEDURE move_table( table_name in VARCHAR2, from_schema in VARCHAR2, to_schema in VARCHAR2 ); END example_pkg; / CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE BODY example_pkg IS PROCEDURE move_table( table_name in VARCHAR2, from_schema in VARCHAR2, to_schema in VARCHAR2 ) IS -- Define local variables. h1 NUMBER; -- handle returned by OPEN h2 NUMBER; -- handle returned by OPENW th1 NUMBER; -- handle returned by ADD_TRANSFORM for MODIFY th2 NUMBER; -- handle returned by ADD_TRANSFORM for DDL xml CLOB; -- XML document errs sys.ku$_SubmitResults := sys.ku$_SubmitResults(); err sys.ku$_SubmitResult; result BOOLEAN; BEGIN -- Specify the object type. h1 := DBMS_METADATA.OPEN('TABLE'); -- Use filters to specify the name and schema of the table. DBMS_METADATA.SET_FILTER(h1,'NAME',table_name); DBMS_METADATA.SET_FILTER(h1,'SCHEMA',from_schema); -- Fetch the XML. xml := DBMS_METADATA.FETCH_CLOB(h1); IF xml IS NULL THEN DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Table ' || from_schema || '.' || table_name || ' not found'); RETURN; END IF; -- Release resources. DBMS_METADATA.CLOSE(h1); -- Use the submit interface to re-create the object in another schema. -- Specify the object type using OPENW (instead of OPEN). h2 := DBMS_METADATA.OPENW('TABLE'); -- First, add the MODIFY transform. th1 := DBMS_METADATA.ADD_TRANSFORM(h2,'MODIFY'); -- Specify the desired modification: remap the schema name. DBMS_METADATA.SET_REMAP_PARAM(th1,'REMAP_SCHEMA',from_schema,to_schema); -- Now add the DDL transform so that the modified XML can be -- transformed into creation DDL. th2 := DBMS_METADATA.ADD_TRANSFORM(h2,'DDL'); -- Call PUT to re-create the object. result := DBMS_METADATA.PUT(h2,xml,0,errs); DBMS_METADATA.CLOSE(h2); IF NOT result THEN -- Process the error information. FOR i IN errs.FIRST..errs.LAST LOOP err := errs(i); FOR j IN err.errorLines.FIRST..err.errorLines.LAST LOOP dbms_output.put_line(err.errorLines(j).errorText); END LOOP; END LOOP; END IF; END; END example_pkg; / -- Now try it: create a table in SCOTT... CONNECT scott/tiger DROP TABLE my_example; CREATE TABLE my_example (a NUMBER, b VARCHAR2(30)); CONNECT system/manager SET LONG 9000000 SET PAGESIZE 0 SET SERVEROUTPUT ON SIZE 100000 -- ...and copy it to SYSTEM. DROP TABLE my_example; EXECUTE example_pkg.move_table('MY_EXAMPLE','SCOTT','SYSTEM'); -- Verify that it worked. SELECT DBMS_METADATA.GET_DDL('TABLE','MY_EXAMPLE') FROM dual;
There may be times when you need to retrieve collections of objects in which the objects are of different types, but comprise a logical unit. For example, you might need to retrieve all the objects in a database or a schema, or a table and all its dependent indexes, constraints, grants, audits, and so on. To make such a retrieval possible, the Metadata API provides a number of heterogeneous object types. A heterogeneous object type is an ordered set of object types.
Oracle supplies a number of heterogeneous object types:
TABLE_EXPORT
- a table and its dependent objects
SCHEMA_EXPORT
- a schema and its contents
DATABASE_EXPORT
- the objects in the database
These object types were developed for use by the Data Pump Export utility, but you can use them in your own applications.
You can use only the programmatic retrieval interface (OPEN
, FETCH
, CLOSE
) with these types, not the browsing interface or the submit interface.
You can specify filters for heterogeneous object types, just as you do for the homogeneous types. For example, you can specify the SCHEMA
and NAME
filters for TABLE_EXPORT
, or the SCHEMA
filter for SCHEMA_EXPORT
.
Example 18-8 shows how to retrieve the object types in the scott
schema.
Example 18-8 Retrieving Heterogeneous Object Types
-- Create a table to store the retrieved objects. CONNECT scott/tiger DROP TABLE my_metadata; CREATE TABLE my_metadata (md CLOB); CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE get_schema_md IS -- Define local variables. h NUMBER; -- handle returned by OPEN th NUMBER; -- handle returned by ADD_TRANSFORM doc CLOB; -- metadata is returned in a CLOB BEGIN -- Specify the object type. h := DBMS_METADATA.OPEN('SCHEMA_EXPORT'); -- Use filters to specify the schema. DBMS_METADATA.SET_FILTER(h,'SCHEMA','SCOTT'); -- Request that the metadata be transformed into creation DDL. th := DBMS_METADATA.ADD_TRANSFORM(h,'DDL'); -- Fetch the objects. LOOP doc := DBMS_METADATA.FETCH_CLOB(h); -- When there are no more objects to be retrieved, FETCH_CLOB returns NULL. EXIT WHEN doc IS NULL; -- Store the metadata in the table. INSERT INTO my_metadata(md) VALUES (doc); COMMIT; END LOOP; -- Release resources. DBMS_METADATA.CLOSE(h); END; / -- Execute the procedure. EXECUTE get_schema_md; -- See what was retrieved. SET LONG 9000000 SET PAGESIZE 0 SELECT * FROM my_metadata;
Note the following about this example:
The objects are returned ordered by object type; for example, all tables are returned, then all grants on tables, then all indexes on tables, and so on. The order is, generally speaking, a valid creation order. Thus, if you take the objects in the order in which they were returned and use the submit interface to re-create them in the same order in another schema or database, there will usually be no errors. (The exceptions usually involve circular references; for example, if package A contains a call to package B, and package B contains a call to package A, then one of the packages will need to be recompiled a second time.)
If you want finer control of the objects returned, you can use the SET_FILTER
procedure and specify that the filter apply only to a specific member type. You do this by specifying the path name of the member type as the fourth parameter to SET_FILTER
. In addition, you can use the EXCLUDE_PATH_EXPR
filter to exclude all objects of an object type. For a list of valid path names, see the TABLE_EXPORT_OBJECTS
catalog view.
Example 18-9 shows how you can use SET_FILTER
to specify finer control on the objects returned.
Example 18-9 Filtering the Return of Heterogeneous Object Types
-- Create a table to store the retrieved objects. CONNECT scott/tiger DROP TABLE my_metadata; CREATE TABLE my_metadata (md CLOB); CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE get_schema_md2 IS -- Define local variables. h NUMBER; -- handle returned by 'OPEN' th NUMBER; -- handle returned by 'ADD_TRANSFORM' doc CLOB; -- metadata is returned in a CLOB BEGIN -- Specify the object type. h := DBMS_METADATA.OPEN('SCHEMA_EXPORT'); -- Use filters to specify the schema. DBMS_METADATA.SET_FILTER(h,'SCHEMA','SCOTT'); -- Use the fourth parameter to SET_FILTER to specify a filter -- that applies to a specific member object type. DBMS_METADATA.SET_FILTER(h,'NAME_EXPR','!=''MY_METADATA''','TABLE'); -- Use the EXCLUDE_PATH_EXPR filter to exclude procedures. DBMS_METADATA.SET_FILTER(h,'EXCLUDE_PATH_EXPR','=''PROCEDURE'''); -- Request that the metadata be transformed into creation DDL. th := DBMS_METADATA.ADD_TRANSFORM(h,'DDL'); -- Use the fourth parameter to SET_TRANSFORM_PARAM to specify a parameter -- that applies to a specific member object type. DBMS_METADATA.SET_TRANSFORM_PARAM(th,'SEGMENT_ATTRIBUTES',false,'TABLE'); -- Fetch the objects. LOOP doc := dbms_metadata.fetch_clob(h); -- When there are no more objects to be retrieved, FETCH_CLOB returns NULL. EXIT WHEN doc IS NULL; -- Store the metadata in the table. INSERT INTO my_metadata(md) VALUES (doc); COMMIT; END LOOP; -- Release resources. DBMS_METADATA.CLOSE(h); END; / -- Execute the procedure. EXECUTE get_schema_md2; -- See what was retrieved. SET LONG 9000000 SET PAGESIZE 0 SELECT * FROM my_metadata;
This section describes how to enhance performance when using the programmatic interface of the Metadata API.
Fetch all of one type of object before fetching the next. For example, if you are retrieving the definitions of all objects in your schema, first fetch all tables, then all indexes, then all triggers, and so on. This will be much faster than nesting OPEN
contexts; that is, fetch one table then all of its indexes, grants, and triggers, then the next table and all of its indexes, grants, and triggers, and so on. Example Usage of the Metadata API reflects this second, less efficient means, but its purpose is to demonstrate most of the programmatic calls, which are best shown by this method.
Use the SET_COUNT
procedure to retrieve more than one object at a time. This minimizes server round trips and eliminates many redundant function calls.
When writing a PL/SQL package that calls the Metadata API, declare LOB variables and objects that contain LOBs (such as SYS
.KU
$_DDLS
) at package scope rather than within individual functions. This eliminates the creation and deletion of LOB duration structures upon function entrance and exit, which are very expensive operations.
This section provides an example of how the Metadata API could be used. A script is provided that automatically runs the demo for you by performing the following actions:
Establishes a schema (MDDEMO
) and some payroll users.
Creates three payroll-like tables within the schema, as well as any associated indexes, triggers, and grants.
Creates a package, PAYROLL_DEMO
, that uses the Metadata API. The PAYROLL_DEMO
package contains a procedure, GET_PAYROLL_TABLES,
that retrieves the DDL for the two tables in the MDDEMO
schema that start with PAYROLL
. For each table, it retrieves the DDL for the table's associated dependent objects; indexes, grants, and triggers. All the DDL is written to a table named MDDEMO
.DDL
.
To execute the example, do the following:
Start SQL*Plus as system
/manager
:
sqlplus system/manager
Install the demo, which is located in the file mddemo.sql
in rdbms
/demo
:
SQL> @mddemo
For an explanation of what happens during this step, see What Does the Metadata API Example Do?.
Connect as user mddemo
/mddemo
:
SQL> CONNECT mddemo/mddemo
Set the following parameters so that query output will be complete and readable:
SQL> SET PAGESIZE 0 SQL> SET LONG 1000000
Execute the GET_PAYROLL_TABLES
procedure, as follows:
SQL> CALL payroll_demo.get_payroll_tables();
Execute the following SQL query:
SQL> SELECT ddl FROM DDL ORDER BY SEQNO;
The output generated is the result of the execution of the GET_PAYROLL_TABLES
procedure. It shows all the DDL that was performed in Step 2 when the demo was installed. See Output Generated from the GET_PAYROLL_TABLES Procedure for a listing of the actual output.
When the mddemo
script is run, the following steps take place. You can adapt these steps to your own situation.
Drops users as follows, if they exist. This will ensure that you are starting out with fresh data. If the users do not exist, a message to that effect is displayed, no harm is done, and the demo continues to execute.
CONNECT system/manager SQL> DROP USER mddemo CASCADE; SQL> DROP USER mddemo_clerk CASCADE; SQL> DROP USER mddemo_mgr CASCADE;
Creates user mddemo
, identified by mddemo
:
SQL> CREATE USER mddemo IDENTIFIED BY mddemo; SQL> GRANT resource, connect, create session, 1 create table, 2 create procedure, 3 create sequence, 4 create trigger, 5 create view, 6 create synonym, 7 alter session, 8 TO mddemo;
Creates user mddemo_clerk
, identified by clerk
:
CREATE USER mddemo_clerk IDENTIFIED BY clerk;
Creates user mddemo_mgr
, identified by mgr
:
CREATE USER mddemo_mgr IDENTIFIED BY mgr;
Connects to SQL*Plus as mddemo
:
CONNECT mddemo/mddemo
Creates some payroll-type tables:
SQL> CREATE TABLE payroll_emps 2 ( lastname VARCHAR2(60) NOT NULL, 3 firstname VARCHAR2(20) NOT NULL, 4 mi VARCHAR2(2), 5 suffix VARCHAR2(10), 6 dob DATE NOT NULL, 7 badge_no NUMBER(6) PRIMARY KEY, 8 exempt VARCHAR(1) NOT NULL, 9 salary NUMBER (9,2), 10 hourly_rate NUMBER (7,2) ) 11 / SQL> CREATE TABLE payroll_timecards 2 (badge_no NUMBER(6) REFERENCES payroll_emps (badge_no), 3 week NUMBER(2), 4 job_id NUMBER(5), 5 hours_worked NUMBER(4,2) ) 6 /
Creates a dummy table, audit_trail
. This table is used to show that tables that do not start with "PAYROLL" are not retrieved by the GET_PAYROLL_TABLES
procedure.
SQL> CREATE TABLE audit_trail 2 (action_time DATE, 3 lastname VARCHAR2(60), 4 action LONG ) 5 /
Creates some grants on the tables just created:
SQL> GRANT UPDATE (salary,hourly_rate) ON payroll_emps TO mddemo_clerk; SQL> GRANT ALL ON payroll_emps TO mddemo_mgr WITH GRANT OPTION; SQL> GRANT INSERT,UPDATE ON payroll_timecards TO mddemo_clerk; SQL> GRANT ALL ON payroll_timecards TO mddemo_mgr WITH GRANT OPTION;
Creates some indexes on the tables just created:
SQL> CREATE INDEX i_payroll_emps_name ON payroll_emps(lastname); SQL> CREATE INDEX i_payroll_emps_dob ON payroll_emps(dob); SQL> CREATE INDEX i_payroll_timecards_badge ON payroll_timecards(badge_no);
Creates some triggers on the tables just created:
SQL> CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE check_sal( salary in number) AS BEGIN 2 RETURN; 3 END; 4 /
Note that the security is kept fairly loose to keep the example simple.
SQL> CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER salary_trigger BEFORE INSERT OR UPDATE OF salary ON payroll_emps FOR EACH ROW WHEN (new.salary > 150000) CALL check_sal(:new.salary) / SQL> CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER hourly_trigger BEFORE UPDATE OF hourly_rate ON payroll_emps FOR EACH ROW BEGIN :new.hourly_rate:=:old.hourly_rate;END; /
Sets up a table to hold the generated DDL:
CREATE TABLE ddl (ddl CLOB, seqno NUMBER);
Creates the PAYROLL_DEMO
package, which provides examples of how DBMS_METADATA
procedures can be used.
SQL> CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE payroll_demo AS PROCEDURE get_payroll_tables; END; /
Note: To see the entire script for this example, including the contents of thePAYROLL_DEMO package, see the file mddemo.sql located in your $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/demo directory. |
After you execute the mddemo.payroll_demo.get_payroll_tables
procedure, you can execute the following query:
SQL> SELECT ddl FROM ddl ORDER BY seqno;
The results are as follows, which reflect all the DDL executed by the script as described in the previous section.
CREATE TABLE "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_EMPS" ( "LASTNAME" VARCHAR2(60) NOT NULL ENABLE, "FIRSTNAME" VARCHAR2(20) NOT NULL ENABLE, "MI" VARCHAR2(2), "SUFFIX" VARCHAR2(10), "DOB" DATE NOT NULL ENABLE, "BADGE_NO" NUMBER(6,0), "EXEMPT" VARCHAR2(1) NOT NULL ENABLE, "SALARY" NUMBER(9,2), "HOURLY_RATE" NUMBER(7,2), PRIMARY KEY ("BADGE_NO") ENABLE ) ; GRANT UPDATE ("SALARY") ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_EMPS" TO "MDDEMO_CLERK"; GRANT UPDATE ("HOURLY_RATE") ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_EMPS" TO "MDDEMO_CLERK"; GRANT ALTER ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_EMPS" TO "MDDEMO_MGR" WITH GRANT OPTION; GRANT DELETE ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_EMPS" TO "MDDEMO_MGR" WITH GRANT OPTION; GRANT INDEX ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_EMPS" TO "MDDEMO_MGR" WITH GRANT OPTION; GRANT INSERT ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_EMPS" TO "MDDEMO_MGR" WITH GRANT OPTION; GRANT SELECT ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_EMPS" TO "MDDEMO_MGR" WITH GRANT OPTION; GRANT UPDATE ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_EMPS" TO "MDDEMO_MGR" WITH GRANT OPTION; GRANT REFERENCES ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_EMPS" TO "MDDEMO_MGR" WITH GRANT OPTION; GRANT ON COMMIT REFRESH ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_EMPS" TO "MDDEMO_MGR" WITH GRANT OPTION; GRANT QUERY REWRITE ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_EMPS" TO "MDDEMO_MGR" WITH GRANT OPTION; CREATE INDEX "MDDEMO"."I_PAYROLL_EMPS_DOB" ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_EMPS" ("DOB") PCTFREE 10 INITRANS 2 MAXTRANS 255 STORAGE(INITIAL 10240 NEXT 10240 MINEXTENTS 1 MAXEXTENTS 121 PCTINCREASE 50 FREELISTS 1 FREELIST GROUPS 1 BUFFER_POOL DEFAULT) TABLESPACE "SYSTEM" ; CREATE INDEX "MDDEMO"."I_PAYROLL_EMPS_NAME" ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_EMPS" ("LASTNAME") PCTFREE 10 INITRANS 2 MAXTRANS 255 STORAGE(INITIAL 10240 NEXT 10240 MINEXTENTS 1 MAXEXTENTS 121 PCTINCREASE 50 FREELISTS 1 FREELIST GROUPS 1 BUFFER_POOL DEFAULT) TABLESPACE "SYSTEM" ; CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER hourly_trigger before update of hourly_rate on payroll_emps for each row begin :new.hourly_rate:=:old.hourly_rate;end; / ALTER TRIGGER "MDDEMO"."HOURLY_TRIGGER" ENABLE; CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER salary_trigger before insert or update of salary on payroll_emps for each row WHEN (new.salary > 150000) CALL check_sal(:new.salary) / ALTER TRIGGER "MDDEMO"."SALARY_TRIGGER" ENABLE; CREATE TABLE "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_TIMECARDS" ( "BADGE_NO" NUMBER(6,0), "WEEK" NUMBER(2,0), "JOB_ID" NUMBER(5,0), "HOURS_WORKED" NUMBER(4,2), FOREIGN KEY ("BADGE_NO") REFERENCES "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_EMPS" ("BADGE_NO") ENABLE ) ; GRANT INSERT ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_TIMECARDS" TO "MDDEMO_CLERK"; GRANT UPDATE ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_TIMECARDS" TO "MDDEMO_CLERK"; GRANT ALTER ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_TIMECARDS" TO "MDDEMO_MGR" WITH GRANT OPTION; GRANT DELETE ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_TIMECARDS" TO "MDDEMO_MGR" WITH GRANT OPTION; GRANT INDEX ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_TIMECARDS" TO "MDDEMO_MGR" WITH GRANT OPTION; GRANT INSERT ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_TIMECARDS" TO "MDDEMO_MGR" WITH GRANT OPTION; GRANT SELECT ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_TIMECARDS" TO "MDDEMO_MGR" WITH GRANT OPTION; GRANT UPDATE ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_TIMECARDS" TO "MDDEMO_MGR" WITH GRANT OPTION; GRANT REFERENCES ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_TIMECARDS" TO "MDDEMO_MGR" WITH GRANT OPTION; GRANT ON COMMIT REFRESH ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_TIMECARDS" TO "MDDEMO_MGR" WITH GRANT OPTION; GRANT QUERY REWRITE ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_TIMECARDS" TO "MDDEMO_MGR" WITH GRANT OPTION; CREATE INDEX "MDDEMO"."I_PAYROLL_TIMECARDS_BADGE" ON "MDDEMO"."PAYROLL_TIMECARDS" ("BADGE_NO") PCTFREE 10 INITRANS 2 MAXTRANS 255 STORAGE(INITIAL 10240 NEXT 10240 MINEXTENTS 1 MAXEXTENTS 121 PCTINCREASE 50 FREELISTS 1 FREELIST GROUPS 1 BUFFER_POOL DEFAULT) TABLESPACE "SYSTEM" ;
This section provides brief descriptions of the procedures provided by the Metadata API. For detailed descriptions of these procedures, see Oracle Database PL/SQL Packages and Types Reference.
Table 18-1 provides a brief description of the procedures provided by the DBMS_METADATA
programmatic interface for retrieving multiple objects.
Table 18-1 DBMS_METADATA Procedures Used for Retrieving Multiple Objects
PL/SQL Procedure Name | Description |
---|---|
DBMS_METADATA.OPEN() |
Specifies the type of object to be retrieved, the version of its metadata, and the object model. |
DBMS_METADATA.SET_FILTER() |
Specifies restrictions on the objects to be retrieved, for example, the object name or schema. |
DBMS_METADATA.SET_COUNT() |
Specifies the maximum number of objects to be retrieved in a single FETCH_xxx call. |
DBMS_METADATA.GET_QUERY() |
Returns the text of the queries that are used by FETCH_xxx . You can use this as a debugging aid. |
DBMS_METADATA.SET_PARSE_ITEM() |
Enables output parsing by specifying an object attribute to be parsed and returned. |
DBMS_METADATA.ADD_TRANSFORM() |
Specifies a transform that FETCH_xxx applies to the XML representation of the retrieved objects. |
DBMS_METADATA.SET_TRANSFORM_PARAM() |
Specifies parameters to the XSLT stylesheet identified by transform_handle. |
DBMS_METADATA.SET_REMAP_PARAM() |
Specifies parameters to the XSLT stylesheet identified by transform_handle . |
DBMS_METADATA.FETCH_xxx() |
Returns metadata for objects meeting the criteria established by OPEN , SET_FILTER , SET_COUNT , ADD_TRANSFORM , and so on. |
DBMS_METADATA.CLOSE() |
Invalidates the handle returned by OPEN and cleans up the associated state. |
Table 18-2 lists the procedures provided by the DBMS_METADATA
browsing interface and provides a brief description of each one. These functions return metadata for one or more dependent or granted objects. These procedures do not support heterogeneous object types.
Table 18-2 DBMS_METADATA Procedures Used for the Browsing Interface
PL/SQL Procedure Name | Description |
---|---|
DBMS_METADATA.GET_xxx() |
Provides a way to return metadata for a single object. Each GET_xxx call consists of an OPEN procedure, one or two SET_FILTER calls, optionally an ADD_TRANSFORM procedure, a FETCH_xxx call, and a CLOSE procedure.
The If a transform is specified, session-level transform flags are inherited. |
DBMS_METADATA.GET_DEPENDENT_xxx() |
Returns the metadata for one or more dependent objects, specified as XML or DDL. |
DBMS_METADATA.GET_GRANTED_xxx() |
Returns the metadata for one or more granted objects, specified as XML or DDL. |
Table 18-3 provides a brief description of the DBMS_METADATA
procedures and functions used for XML submission.
Table 18-3 DBMS_METADATA Procedures and Functions for Submitting XML Data
PL/SQL Name | Description |
---|---|
DBMS_METADATA.OPENW() |
Opens a write context. |
DBMS_METADATA.ADD_TRANSFORM() |
Specifies a transform for the XML documents |
DBMS_METADATA.SET_TRANSFORM_PARAM() and DBMS_METADATA.SET_REMAP_PARAM() |
SET_TRANSFORM_PARAM specifies a parameter to a transform.
|
DBMS_METADATA.SET_PARSE_ITEM() |
Specifies an object attribute to be parsed. |
DBMS_METADATA.CONVERT() |
Converts an XML document to DDL. |
DBMS_METADATA.PUT() |
Submits an XML document to the database. |
DBMS_METADATA.CLOSE() |
Closes the context opened with OPENW . |