CREATE PROCEDURE Statement

The CREATE PROCEDURE statement creates or replaces a standalone stored procedure or a call specification.

A standalone stored procedure is a procedure (a subprogram that performs a specific action) that is stored in the database.

Note:

A standalone stored procedure that you create with the CREATE PROCEDURE statement is different from a procedure that you declare and define in a PL/SQL block or package. For information about the latter, see Procedure Declaration and Definition.

A call specification declares a Java method or a third-generation language (3GL) routine so that it can be called from PL/SQL. You can also use the SQL CALL statement to call such a method or routine. The call specification tells the database which Java method, or which named procedure in which shared library, to invoke when a call is made. It also tells the database what type conversions to make for the arguments and return value.

Prerequisites

To create or replace a standalone stored procedure in your own schema, you must have the CREATE PROCEDURE system privilege. To create or replace a standalone stored procedure in another user's schema, you must have the CREATE ANY PROCEDURE system privilege.

To invoke a call specification, you may need additional privileges, for example, the EXECUTE object privilege on the C library for a C call specification.

To embed a CREATE PROCEDURE statement inside an Oracle precompiler program, you must terminate the statement with the keyword END-EXEC followed by the embedded SQL statement terminator for the specific language.

See Also:

For more information about such prerequisites:

Syntax

create_procedure ::=

create_procedure
Description of the illustration create_procedure.gif

(parameter_declaration ::=, declare_section ::=, body ::=)

invoker_rights_clause ::=

invoker_rights_clause
Description of the illustration invoker_rights_clause.gif

call_spec ::=

call_spec
Description of the illustration call_spec.gif

Java_declaration ::=

v
Description of the illustration java_declaration.gif

C_declaration ::=

C_declaration
Description of the illustration c_declaration.gif

Keyword and Parameter Descriptions

OR REPLACE

Specify OR REPLACE to re-create the procedure if it already exists. Use this clause to change the definition of an existing procedure without dropping, re-creating, and regranting object privileges previously granted on it. If you redefine a procedure, then the database recompiles it.

Users who had previously been granted privileges on a redefined procedure can still access the procedure without being regranted the privileges.

If any function-based indexes depend on the package, then the database marks the indexes DISABLED.

schema

Specify the schema to contain the procedure. If you omit schema, then the database creates the procedure in your current schema.

procedure_name

Specify the name of the procedure to be created.

invoker_rights_clause

Specifies the AUTHID property of the member functions and procedures of the object type. For information about the AUTHID property, see "Using Invoker's Rights or Definer's Rights (AUTHID Clause)".

AUTHID CURRENT_USER

Specify CURRENT_USER to indicate that the procedure executes with the privileges of CURRENT_USER. This clause creates an invoker's rights procedure.

This clause also specifies that external names in queries, DML operations, and dynamic SQL statements resolve in the schema of CURRENT_USER. External names in all other statements resolve in the schema in which the procedure resides.

AUTHID DEFINER

Specify DEFINER to indicate that the procedure executes with the privileges of the owner of the schema in which the procedure resides, and that external names resolve in the schema where the procedure resides. This is the default and creates a definer's rights procedure.

See Also:

Using Invoker's Rights or Definer's Rights (AUTHID Clause) for more information about invoker's rights and definer's rights

body

The required executable part of the procedure and, optionally, the exception-handling part of the procedure.

declare_section

The optional declarative part of the procedure. Declarations are local to the procedure, can be referenced in body, and cease to exist when the procedure completes execution.

call_spec

Use the call_spec to map a Java or C method name, parameter types, and return type to their SQL counterparts.

In the Java_declaration, string identifies the Java implementation of the method.

See Also:

EXTERNAL  The EXTERNAL clause is an alternative way of declaring a C method. In most cases, Oracle recommends that you use the LANGUAGE C syntax. However, EXTERNAL is required if a default argument is used as one of the parameters or if one of the parameters uses a PL/SQL data type that must be mapped (for example, Boolean). EXTERNAL causes the PL/SQL layer to be loaded so that the parameters can be properly evaluated.

Examples

Creating a Procedure: Example The following statement creates the procedure remove_emp in the schema hr.

CREATE PROCEDURE remove_emp (employee_id NUMBER) AS
   tot_emps NUMBER;
   BEGIN
      DELETE FROM employees
      WHERE employees.employee_id = remove_emp.employee_id;
   tot_emps := tot_emps - 1;
   END;
/

The remove_emp procedure removes a specified employee. When you call the procedure, you must specify the employee_id of the employee to be removed.

The procedure uses a DELETE statement to remove from the employees table the row of employee_id.

See Also:

Creating a Package Body: Example to see how to incorporate this procedure into a package

In the following example, external procedure c_find_root expects a pointer as a parameter. Procedure find_root passes the parameter by reference using the BY REFERENCE phrase.

CREATE PROCEDURE find_root
   ( x IN REAL ) 
   IS LANGUAGE C
      NAME c_find_root
      LIBRARY c_utils
      PARAMETERS ( x BY REFERENCE );

Related Topics

See Also: