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Oracle Interview Q & A

1. Views provide many advantages, like:

A view is a logical table which makes a complex query easy.We can even create
a complex view by joining two tables.

(a) They restrict access to the whole data, because they display only selective columns.
(b) They can be used to make complex queries easy. A user can use a simple query on a view
to display data from multiple tables, without having the knowledge of how to join tables in
queries.
(c) Different views can be created from the same data as per the requirements of different
types of use groups.

A view does not contain any data of its own, but is like a window through which data from
other tables can be viewed and changed.

A view does not contain any data of its own, but is like a window through which data from
other tables can be viewed and changed.

2. What is an Oracle index?

An Index is a tree structure that allows direct access to a row in a table. Indexes can be
classified based on their logical design or on their physical implementation.

The Logical classification groups indexes from an application perspective, while the physical
classification is derived from the way the indexes are stored.

3. What is database link?

A database link is a pointer in the local database that allows you to access on a remote
database.

4. What are the types of database links?

Oracle allows you to create private, public, and global database links.

Private Database Link: You can create a private database link in a specific schema of a
database. Only the owner of a private database link or PL/SQL subprograms in the schema can
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use a private database link to access data and database objects in the corresponding remote
database.

Public Database Link : You can create a public database link for a database. All users and
PL/SQL subprograms in the database can use a public database link to access data and
database objects in the corresponding remote database.

Global Database Link - When an Oracle network uses Oracle Names, the names servers in the
system automatically create and manage global database links for every Oracle database in
the network. All users and PL/SQL subprograms in any database can use a global database
link to access data and database objects in the corresponding remote database.

A private database link is more secure than a public or global link, because only the owner of
the private link, or subprograms within the same schema, can use the private link to access
the specified remote database.

When many users require an access path to a remote Oracle database, an administrator can
create a single public database link for all users in a database.

When an Oracle network uses Oracle Names, an administrator can conveniently manage global
database links for all databases in the system. Database link management is centralized and
simple.

5. What is data block?

Block is the smallest unit of storage in the logical structure of the database where actual table
rows are stored.

6. What is an Index ? How it is implemented in Oracle Database ?

An index is a database structure used by the server to have direct access of a row in a table.
An index is automatically created when a unique of primary key constraint clause is specified
in create table common (Ver 7.0)

7. What is sql? what is the difference between sql and pl/sql?

SQL: is a structured query language which subdivided in to 5 categories like

DDL, DML, DQL, DCL, TCL
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PLSQL: is a programming language structured query language which consists of procedure,

function, triggers, collection.

select * from emp a

where 3=(select distinct(count(b.salary))from emp b
where a.salary<=b.salary);

1)Select the 2nd row in the table?

2)Select the row in between 3rd to 10th row?
3)Select even number in emp table?

1) select * from emp where rowid in(select

decode(rownum,2,rowid) from emp);
EMP_NO EMP_NAME SALARY
--------- ------------------------- ---------
101 RAJ 50000

2) select * from emp where rowid in(select

decode(rownum,3,rowid,10,rowid) from emp);
EMP_NO EMP_NAME SALARY
-------- ------------------------- ---------
102 A S KALA
109 SUDHA 30000

3) select * from emp where rowid in(select

decode(mod(rownum,2),0,rowid) from emp);
EMP_NO EMP_NAME SALARY
--------- ------------------------- ---------
101 RAJ 50000
103 JESLIN FANTA MALAR 300000
105 MURUGU 500000
107 SARABOOT 550000
109 SUDHA 30000
111 SAVI

6 rows selected.
 4

SQL> select * from emp;

EMP_NO EMP_NAME SALARY DEPT_NO M

--------- ------------------------- --------- --------- ----
100 SELVA 21000
101 RAJ 50000
102 A S KALA 10
103 JESLIN FANTA MALAR 300000
104 ANITA 400000 20
105 MURUGU 500000
106 SRIVATSAN 450000 30
107 SARABOOT 550000 30
108 KARTHI SIR 600000 40
109 SUDHA 30000 20
110 MERCHI 40000 30
111 SAVI 40

12 rows selected.

8. Char & Varchar difference?

CHAR pads blank spaces to the maximum length. VARCHAR2 does not pad blank spaces. For
CHAR it is 255 and 2000 for VARCHAR2.

9. What will the Output for this Coding?

Declare
Cursor c1 is select * from emp FORUPDATE;
Z c1%rowtype;
Begin
Open C1;
Fetch c1 into Z;
Commit;
Fetch c1 in to Z; ?

By declaring this cursor we can update the table emp through z,means wo not need to write
table name for updation,it may be only by "z".

selecting in FOR UPDATE mode locks the result set of rows in update mode, which means that
row cannot be updated or deleted until a commit or rollback is issued which will release the
row(s).
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10. The procedure executes successfully. COMMIT will not close the cursor.
declare
b boolean;
cursor c is select * from emp for update;
rec c%rowtype;
begin
open c;
fetch c into rec;
dbms_output.put_line('NAME is'||rec.ename);
commit;
if c%isopen then
dbms_output.put_line('Cursor is not closed '||c%rowcount);
end if;
fetch c into rec;
dbms_output.put_line('NAME is'||rec.ename);
end;

O/P
NAME isSMITH
Cursor is not closed 1
NAME isALLEN

11. What is the fastest way of accessing a row in a table?

Using ROWID.CONSTRAINTS

12. What is ROWID?

ROWID is a pseudo column attached to each row of a table. It is 18 character long, blockno,
rownumber are the components of ROWID.

13. Explain UNION, MINUS, UNION ALL and INTERSECT?

INTERSECT returns all distinct rows selected by both queries.MINUS - returns all distinct rows
selected by the first query but not by the second.UNION - returns all distinct rows selected by
either queryUNION ALL - returns all rows selected by either query, including all duplicates.

14. Difference between SUBSTR and INSTR?

INSTR (String1,String2(n,(m)),INSTR returns the position of the mth occurrence of the string
2 instring1. The search begins from nth position of string1.SUBSTR (String1 n,m)SUBSTR
returns a character string of size m in string1, starting from nth position of string1.

15. What is correlated sub-query?

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Correlated sub query is a sub query which has reference to the main query.

16. Explain CONNECT BY PRIOR?

Retrieves rows in hierarchical order.e.g. select empno, ename from emp where.

17. What is difference between TRUNCATE & DELETE?

TRUNCATE commits after deleting entire table i.e., can not be rolled back. Database triggers
do not fire on TRUNCATEDELETE allows the filtered deletion. Deleted records can be rolled
back or committed.Database triggers fire on DELETE.

18. What is a transaction?

It is a operation on database / table. which has to be confirmed after completion.
It may be single sql stm or multiple stm

19. What are the types of SQL statement?

Data definition Language
Data Manipulation language
data Control Language
Senssion Control
System Control

20. How to get/select the nth row from the table ?

How to select first n rows ,last n rows from a table?
nth salary

select salary from table_name a

where &n=(select count(salary) from table_name b where a.salary<=b.salary);

n salaries

select salary from table_name a

where &n>=(select count(salary) from table_name b where a.salary<=b.salary);

To select LAST n rows:

SELECT * FROM emp a
WHERE &n >= (SELECT COUNT(EMP_NO) FROM emp b
WHERE a.ROWID<=b.ROWID);
Ex:
EMP_NO EMP_NAME SALARY DEPT_NO
------- ------------------------- --------- --------- -
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109 SUDHA 30000 20

110 MERCHI 40000 30
111 SAVI 40

To select FIRST n rows:

SELECT * FROM emp a
WHERE &n >= (SELECT COUNT(EMP_NO) FROM emp b
WHERE a.ROWID>=b.ROWID);
EMP_NO EMP_NAME SALARY DEPT_NO
------ ------------------------- --------- --------- -
100 SELVA 21000
101 RAJ 50000
102 A S KALA 10

How do i replace a comma (,) with a blank in a select statement?

No answer available. If you have the answer, then send it to us. We will display your answer
after the approval.
21. Implicit Cursor attributes?
SQL%FOUND,SQL%NOT FOUND, SQL%IS OPEN, SQL%ROW COUNT

22. Explicit Cursor attributes?

%IS OPEN,%FOUND,%NOT FOUND,%ROW COUNT

23. How do I eliminate the duplicate rows?

Use the DISTINCT keyword right after SELECT...

i.e. SELECT DISTINCT customername FROM customer

select * from emp e where rownum=(select max(rownum) from emp ee
where e.empno=ee.empno)

24. Display the records between two range I know the nvl function only allows the
same data type(ie. number or char or date Nvl(comm, 0)), if commission is null then
the text “Not Applicable” want to display, instead of blank space. How do I write the
query?
You can use the decode function for the above requirement. Please find the query as below:
select ename,decode(nvl(comm,0),0,'Not Applicable',comm) from scott.emp;
Ex:
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SQL> select EMP_NAME,decode(nvl(COMMISSION,0),0,'Not Applicable',COMMISSION)from

emp;

EMP_NAME DECODE(NVL(COMMISSION,0),0,'NOTAPPLICABL
------------------------- ----------------------------------------
SELVA 5000
RAJ 5660
A S KALA 7000
JESLIN FANTA MALAR Not Applicable
ANITA 10500
MURUGU 1000
SRIVATSAN 1700
SARABOOT Not Applicable
KARTHI SIR Not Applicable
SUDHA Not Applicable
MERCHI 1750
SAVI Not Applicable

12 rows selected.

25. How do I display row number with records?

SELECT rownum,table_name.* FROM table_name;
Ex:
SQL> select rownum,emp.* from emp;

ROWNUM EMP_NO EMP_NAME SALARY DEPT_NO

--------- --------- ------------------------- --------- --------- --
1 100 SELVA 21000
2 101 RAJ 50000
3 102 A S KALA 10
4 103 JESLIN FANTA MALAR 300000
5 104 ANITA 400000 20
6 105 MURUGU 500000
7 106 SRIVATSAN 450000 30
8 107 SARABOOT 550000 30
9 108 KARTHI SIR 600000 40
10 109 SUDHA 30000 20
11 110 MERCHI 40000 30
12 111 SAVI 40
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12 rows selected.

26. How do I eliminate the duplicate rows?

Use the DISTINCT keyword right after SELECT...

i.e. SELECT DISTINCT customername FROM customer

select * from emp e where rownum=(select max(rownum) from emp ee
where e.empno=ee.empno);
Ex:
SQL> select * from emp e where rownum=(select MIN(rownum) from emp ee where
e.EMP_NO=ee.EMP_NO);

EMP_NO EMP_NAME SALARY DEPT_NO MGR_ID JOB

HIRE_DATE COMMISSION GROSS_SALARY
--------- ------------------------- --------- --------- --------- -------------------- --------- ----------
-------------
100 SELVA 21000 ENGINEER 25-MAR-08 5000

27. If a view on a single base table is manipulated will the changes be reflected on
the base table?
if view on based on a single table then u can execute any DML directly on it and can see the
changes in the base table and if view is based on join of 2 tables then only one base table can
be modified at one time so in order to make changes in both the tables use instead of triggers.

28. What are the advantages of VIEW?

of view:
1. Restricts the access to particular columns and rows of the base tables.
2. Hide the data complexity.
3. Can access the data for two different base tables with out performing a join.
4. Can display the data in different form from the base tables.(i.e. In the column names can
can be changed with effecting the column names of the base tables).

29. How to access the current value and next value from a sequence?
Would like to give you a small example to use the sequence.currval and sequence.nextval
create sequence seq_name.
start with 1
minvalue 1
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maxvalue 999
increment by 1
nocycle
insert into table_name (sno,name) values (seqname.nextval,'abc');
select seqname.currval from dual;

30. What is CYCLE/NO CYCLE in a Sequence?

CYCLE specifies that the sequence continue to generate values after reaching either maximum
or minimum value. After pan-ascending sequence reaches its maximum value, it generates its
minimum value. After a descending sequence reaches its minimum, it generates its maximum.
NO CYCLE specifies that the sequence cannot generate more values after reaching its
maximum or minimum value.

31. Where the integrity constraints are stored in data dictionary?

The integrity constraints are stored in USER_CONSTRAINTS.

32. What is the maximum SIZE allowed for each type?

The Max Size is upto 32.

33. How will you activate/deactivate integrity constraints?

The integrity constraints can be enabled or disabled by ALTER TABLE ENABLE
constraint/DISABLE constraint.

34. To view installed Oracle version information?

select * from v$version;

35. Display the number value in Words?

select sal, (to_char(to_date(sal,'j'), 'jsp'))
from emp;
Ex:
SQL> SELECT Emp_No,Emp_Name,Salary,(to_char(to_date(Salary,'j'), 'jsp')) FROM
emp;

EMP_NO EMP_NAME SALARY (TO_CHAR(TO_DATE(SALARY,'J'),'JSP'))

--------- ------------------------- --------- ------------------------------------
100 SELVA 21000 twenty-one thousand
101 RAJ 50000 fifty thousand
102 A S KALA
103 JESLIN FANTA MALAR 300000 three hundred thousand
104 ANITA 400000 four hundred thousand
105 MURUGU 500000 five hundred thousand
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106 SRIVATSAN 450000 four hundred fifty thousand

107 SARABOOT 550000 five hundred fifty thousand
108 KARTHI SIR 600000 six hundred thousand
109 SUDHA 30000 thirty thousand
110 MERCHI 40000 forty thousand
111 SAVI

12 rows selected.

36. Display Odd/ Even number of records?

Odd number of records:
select * from emp where (rowid,1) in (select rowid, mod(rownum,2) from emp);
1
3
5
Even number of records:
select * from emp where (rowid,0) in (select rowid, mod(rownum,2) from emp)
2
4
6

37. Which date function returns number value?

Months_between. This date function takes 2 valid dates and returns number of months in
between them.
Difference between NO DATA FOUND and %NOTFOUND?
NO DATA FOUND is an exception raised only for the SELECT....INTO statements when the
where clause of the query does not match any rows. When the where clause of the explicit
cursor does not match any rows the %NOTFOUND attribute is set to TRUE instead.
NO_DATA_FOUND is pre defind exception of oracle.
when we can't get any data
from the table for any query.
In that case we will get error.
%NOT FOUND is one of the attribute
of explicit cursor.
when can't get any data from explicit cursor in that case
%NOT FOUND will returns true
otherwise it returns false.
What is a cursor for loop?
Cursor For Loop is a loop where oracle implicitly declares a loop variable, the loop index that
of the same record type as the cursor's record.
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When we use for loops,there is no need to declare explicit cursor.

Only case of for loop,cursor is implicitly open and after fetching the data cursor is implicitly
closed.
Example given below
SET SERVEROUTPUT ON
BEGIN
FOR emp_record IN (SELECT last_name,department_id FROM employees) LOOP
IF emp_record.department_id=80 THEN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('employees'||'emp_record.last_name'||'works for sales
department');
END IF;
END LOOP;--implicit cursor closed
END;

Difference between procedure and function?

Functions are named PL/SQL blocks that return a value and can be called with arguments
procedure a named block that can be called with parameter. A procedure all is a PL/SQL
statement by itself, while a Function call is called as part of an expression.
What are different modes of parameters used in functions and procedures?
-IN
-OUT
-INOUT

PL / SQL

1. What is trigger,cursor,functions in pl-sql and we need sample programs about it?

Trigger is an event driven PL/SQL block. Event may be any DML transaction.

Cursor is a stored select statement for that current session. It will not be stored in the
database, it is a logical component.

Function is a set of PL/SQL statements or a PL/SQL block, which performs an operation and
must return a value.
Cursor
cursor is a private sql work area.
Every sql statement executed
by oracle server has an individual
cursor associated with it.
Cursor are two types
1.Implicit cursor
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2.Explicit cursor
Implicit cursor: Implicit cursors
are declared by pl/sql implicitly
at the time of DML statement and select statement in pl/sql including queries that returns
single row.
cursor have four attributes
1. SQL%ROWCOUNT
2. SQL%ISOPEN
3. SQL%NOTFOUND
4. SQL%FOUND
SQL%ROWCOUNT-Basically it returns
number.
means number of rows
affected by present sql statement.
SQL%ISOPEN-Always evalutes false
because implicit cursor automatically closed after execution of sql statement.
SQL%FOUND-Always evalutes true
because one or more rows are affected by recent sql statement
SQL%NOTFOUND-Always evalutes true when no rows are affected by
present sql statement.
example of explicit cursor:

DECLARE
v_empno employees.employee_id%TYPE;
v_name employees.last_name%TYPE;
CURSOR emp_cur IS
SELECT employee_id,last_name
FROM employees
BEGIN
OPEN emp_cur;
LOOP
FETCH emp_cur INTO v_empno,v_name ;
EXIT WHEN emp_cur%ROWCOUNT>10 OR
emp_cur%NOTFOUND;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('employee_id:'||TO_CHAR(v_empno) ||
'employee_name:'||'v_name');
END LOOP;
CLOSE emp_cur;
END;
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Trigger:-Trigger is pl/sql block or

procedure that is associated with table,view,schema and database.
Execute immidiately when particular event take place.
there are two types of trigger
1.Application trigger:fires automatically when event occurs with particular application.
2.Database trigger:Fires when
data such as DML oparation occured at that time.
DML triggers are two types
1.Statementlevel trigger
2.Rowlevel trigger
statement level trigger-statement level trigger means trigger body
execute once for the triggering event.this is default.A statement level trigger fire once even no
rows are affected at all.
Row level- Trigger body execute
once for each row affected by triggering event.if no rows are
affected in that case trigger body
not executed.
trigger example
CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER secure_emp
BEFORE INSERT ON employees
BEGIN
TO_CHAR(SYSDATE,'DY')IN('SUN','SAT') OR TO_CHAR((SYSDATE,'HH24:MI')NOT BETWEEN
'08:00' AND '18:00')THEN
RAISE_APPLICATION_ERROR(-20253,'u may insert employee information at business hrs');
END;
2. In pl/sql functions what is use of out parameter even though we have return
statement.
With out parameters you can get the more than one out values in the calling program. It is
recommended not to use out parameters in functions. If you need more than one out values
then use procedures instead of functions.
We can't use OUT paramter in function.We must have to use RETURN to pass values out of
function otherwise use procs.
3. How we can create a table through procedure ?
You can create table from procedure using Execute immediate command.
create procedure p1 is
begin
EXECUTE IMMEDIATE 'CREATE TABLE temp AS
SELECT * FROM emp ' ;
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END;
/

4. State the difference between implicit and explicit cursor's.

Implicit Cursor are declared and used by the oracle internally. whereas the explicit cursors are
declared and used by the user. more over implicitly cursors are no need to declare oracle
creates and process and closes autometically. the explicit cursor should be declared and closed
by the user.

Implict cursor can be used to handle single record (i.e) the select query used should not yield
more than one row.
if u have handle more than one record then Explict cursor should be used.

5. What are the two parts of a procedure ?

Procedure Specification and Procedure Body.
6. What is difference between a PROCEDURE & FUNCTION ?

A FUNCTION is always returns a value using the return statement.

A PROCEDURE may return one or more values through parameters or may not return at all.

A function can be called from sql statements and queries while procedure can be called in a
begin end block only.
In case of function,it must have
return type.
In case of procedure,it may or may n't have return type.
In case of function, only it takes IN parameters
IN case of procedure
only it take IN,OUT,INOUT parameters.

7. What is a stored procedure ?

A stored procedure is a sequence of statements that perform specific function.
A stored procedure is a named pl/sql block which performs an action.It is stored in the
database as a schema object and can be repeatedly executed.It can be invoked,
parameterised and nested.
8. What is Raise_application_error ?

Raise_application_error is a procedure of package DBMS_STANDARD which allows to issue an

user_defined error messages from stored sub-program or database
trigger.
RAISE_APPLICATION_ERROR is a
procedure of package DBMS which
allows to issue user_defined error
message.
9. Name the tables where characteristics of Package, procedure and functions are
stored ?
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User_objects, User_Source and User_error.

10. What are two parts of package ?

The two parts of package are PACKAGE SPECIFICATION & PACKAGE BODY. Package
Specification contains declarations that are global to the packages and local to the schema.
Package Body contains actual procedures and local declaration of the procedures and cursor
declarations.

package has two parts:

1.Package specification
2.Package body
In the specification,where we declare variable,function,procedure
that is global to the package and local to the schema.
package body contains the defination of the function,procedure.we can also declare private
function and procedure which is not accessble
out side the package.

11. What are advantages fo Stored Procedures?

Extensibility,Modularity, Reusability, Maintainability and one time compilation.

12. Difference between DBMS & RDBMS?

DBMS stands for Database Management System which is a general term for a set of software
dedicated to controlling the storage of data.
RDMBS stand for Relational DataBase Management System. This is the most common form of
DBMS. Invented by E.F. Codd, the only way to view the data is as a set of tables. Because
there can be relationships between the tables, people often assume that is what the word
"relational" means. Not so. Codd was a mathematician and the word "relational" is a
mathematical term from the science of set theory. It means, roughly, "based on tables".

Program 1

SET SERVEROUTPUT ON
BEGIN
FOR emp_record IN (SELECT last_name,department_id FROM employees) LOOP
IF emp_record.department_id=80 THEN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('employees'||'emp_record.last_name'||'works for sales
department');
END IF;
 17

END LOOP;--implicit cursor closed

END;

SQL> /
employees SARABOOT works for sales department
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

Program 2
SQL> DECLARE
v_empno emp.EMP_NO%TYPE;
v_name emp.EMP_NAME%TYPE;
CURSOR emp_cur IS
SELECT EMP_NO,EMP_NAME FROM emp;
BEGIN
OPEN emp_cur;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('EMPLOYEE ID'||' '||
'EMPLOYEE NAME');
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('--------------------------------
-------------');
LOOP
FETCH emp_cur INTO v_empno,v_name ;
EXIT WHEN emp_cur%ROWCOUNT>4 OR
emp_cur%NOTFOUND;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(TO_CHAR(v_empno)||'
'|| v_name);
END LOOP;
END;
/

EMPLOYEE ID EMPLOYEE NAME

---------------------------------------------
100 SELVAA
101 RAJ
102 A S KALA
103 JESLIN FANTA MALAR

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.