1.What is cursor ?

Answer :
Cursor is a buffer area which is used to process multiple records and also record by record
tabs.

There are 2 types of cursors :

1.Implicit cursor

2.Explicit cursor

Implicit cursor : Implicit cursor is a buffer area which has been defined and controlled by
oracle internally. Implicit cursor will process single record at a time.

example :
declare

v_Ename varchar2(100);

begin

select ename into V_Ename from Employee where empno=101;

dbms_output.put_line(V_Ename );

end;
The above cursor is implicit cursor where all the operations are defined by oracle engine
internally like declaring the cursor,fetching values from the cursor and close cursor.

Explicit Cursor : Explicit cursor is a cursor which is defined by user to process set of
records.For multiple records user needs to use explicit cursor.Explicit cursor operations are
done by the user.

There are following 4 operations needs to be done by user :

1.Declare cursor

2.Open cursor

3.Fetch all records from the cursor

4.Close cursor.

2.What are different cursor attributes?

Answer :

There are following cursor attributes :

1.%Found

2.%Not Found

3.%Isopen

4.%Rowcount

3.What is ref cursor?Why it is used?

Answer :
As the name suggested ref cursor is a variable which will point to the address or reference
of the cursor.Ref cursor is variable not cursor but that variable points to cursor.

There are 2 type of ref cursors :

1.Strong Ref cursor

2.Weak Ref cursor

4.What is %ROWTYPE ? Explain this with example.

Answer :
%ROWTYPE is cursor attribute which is used to define the record of the field.Each field
assumes it own datatype and %ROWTYPE is used to define the specific record type.

example :

CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE P_Employee_Information

IS
CURSOR Emp_Cur IS SELECT Employee_name, Employee_Number FROM emp;
variable1 Emp_Cur %ROWTYPE; ---This is cursor variable name
BEGIN
OPEN Emp_Cur ;
LOOP
FETCH Emp_Cur INTO variable1;
EXIT WHEN Emp_Cur %Notfound; ---When cursor
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE( variable1.Employee_name || ' works in department '
|| myvar.Employee_Number);
END LOOP;
CLOSE Emp_Cur ;
END;
5.How to write Cursor with for loop?

Answer:
Cursor declares %ROWTYPE as loop index implicitly. It then opens a cursor, gets rows of
values from the active set in fields of the record and shuts when all records are
processed.Means while using the for loop user dont need to Open the cursor and fetch the
values from cursor or close cursor explicitly.

In For loop all cursor operations done implicitly..

Real Example:
FOR Sample_cursor IN C1 LOOP

Total_Salary=Total_Salary + Appraisals;

END LOOP;

6.What is Database Trigger?What is real use of trigger?

Answer :
PL SQL procedure which is used to trigger specific event on specific condition is known as
database triggers. Triggers are database objects with specific conditions.

Examples of Trigger :
1)Audit data modifications.

2)Log events transparently.

3)Enforce complex business rules.

4)Maintain replica tables

5)Derive column values

6)Implement Complex security authorizations.

7.What is Raise_Application_Error?
Answer :
When user wants to insert Error message then user needs to use the
Raise_Application_Error procedure. Raise_Application_Error is the system defined
procedure of package named DBMS_STANDARD.

Syntax :
Raise_Application_Error(Error_Code,Error_Message);

Example :
Raise_Application_Error (-20343, ‘The balance is too low.’);
8.What is commit?RollBack?Savepoint?
Answer :
Commit :
When user commits the data after transaction that changes are permanent changes.
1.Other users can see the data changes made by the transaction.

2.The locks acquired by the transaction are released.

3.The work done by the transaction becomes permanent.

Rollback :
When transaction become wrong user can rollback the data.

1.The work done in a transition is undone as if it was never issued.

2.All locks acquired by transaction are released.

Savepoint :
It undoes all the work done by the user in a transaction. With SAVEPOINT, only part of
transaction can be undone.

9.What is mutating error?(90% asked PL SQL Interview Questions)

Answer :
It occurs when a trigger tries to update a row that it is currently using. It is fixed by using
views or temporary tables, so database selects one and updates the other.

10.What is mean by Unique Indexes?(90% asked PL SQL Interview Questions)

Answer:
1.To create unique index you must have CREATE ANY INDEX privilege.Here the concept is
bit different.User needs to check the values of the table to create unique index.If table
contains uniquely identified values in specified column then you should use unique index.

2.Especially while creating the table if we specify the primary key then unique index is
automatically created on that column.

3.But for Unique key constaint columns you separately need to do indexing.Kindly make
sure that Unique key indexes created on the columns which has unique values only.

4.The unique indexes are also called as clustered indexes when primary key is defined on
the column.

Example:
Create Unique index Index_name on Table_name(Unique column name);
Example:
CREATE UNIQUE INDEX UI1_EMP on EMP(EMP_ID);

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11.How many triggers can be applied on one table?
Answer :
There are maximum 12 triggers can be applied on one table.

12.What is Bit-map index?Explain with Example.(80 % Asked in PL SQL Interview Questions)

Answer:
1.If Table contains the distinct values which are not more than 20 distinct values then user
should go for Bit map indexes.

2.User should avoid the indexing on each and every row and do the indexing only on
distinct records of the table column.You should able to check drastic change in query cost
after changing the normal index to Bit map index.

3.The bit map indexes are very much useful in dataware housing where there are low level
of concurrent transactions.Bit map index stores row_id as associated key value with bitmap
and did the indexing only distinct values.

4.Means If in 1 million records only 20 distinct values are there so Bitmap index only stores
20 values as bitmap and fetches the records from that 20 values only.
Syntax:
Create bitmap index Index_name on Table_name(Columns which have distinct values);
Example:
CREATE BITMAP index BM_DEPT_NAME on DEPT(Department_name);
12. What are different cursor attributes?
Answer :
%ISOPEN :
Checks if the cursor is open or not

%ROWCOUNT :
The number of rows that are updated, deleted or fetched.

%FOUND :
Checks if the cursor has fetched any row. It is true if rows are fetched

%NOT FOUND :
Checks if the cursor has fetched any row. It is True if rows are not fetched.

13.What is sequences in PL SQL?

Answer :
Sequences are used to generate sequence numbers without an overhead of locking. Its
drawback is that the sequence number is lost if the transaction is rolled back.

14.What is database link used for?

Answer :
Database links are used to communicate between 2 databases.Database links are created
in order to form communication between various databases, or different environments like
test, development and production.When user wants to insert or update data from one
environment to another environment then database links are used.
15.What is difference between Anonymous block and subprogram?
Answer :
Anonymous block :

Anonymous blocks are programs or unnamed block which is used to check some
functionality and which are not stored in database.

Subprograms :

Subprograms are stored blocks which are stored in to database. Subprograms are compiled
at runtime.

16.What are types of exceptions in PL SQL?

Answer :
There are 2 types of exceptions in PL SQL :

1.Predefined Exceptions :

These exceptions are system defined exceptions.

2.User defined Exceptions:

User defined exceptions are exceptions which are defined by the user in the program.

17.Give us example of Predefined Exceptions?

Answer :
DUP_VAL_ON_INDEX

ZERO_DIVIDE

NO_DATA_FOUND

TOO_MANY_ROWS

CURSOR_ALREADY_OPEN

INVALID_NUMBER

INVALID_CURSOR

PROGRAM_ERROR

TIMEOUT _ON_RESOURCE

STORAGE_ERROR
LOGON_DENIED

VALUE_ERROR

18.What operators deals with null?

Answer :
NVL converts NULL to another specified value.

var:=NVL(var2,’Hi’);

IS NULL and IS NOT NULL can be used to check specifically to see whether the value of a
variable is NULL or not.

19.What is cost based optimizer?

Answer:
Cost Based Optimizer (CBO) uses the artificial intelligence to execute the Query. The
Optimizer itself decides the execution plan based on the cost of query. The cost based
method means the database must decide which query execution plan to choose. It decides
the query execution plan by deciding the statistical information based on the database
objects.(tables, indexes and clusters).The Oracle cost based optimizer is designed to
determine the most effective way to carry out the SQL statement.

“Cost based optimizer considers the statistical information of the table for query execution”
20.What is difference between Decode and Case?
Answer :
DECODE and CASE statements are very similar, but CASE is extended version of
DECODE. DECODE does not allow Decision making statements in its place.

select decode(Total_salary=50000,’high’,40000,’medium’) as “Decode Test” from Employee

where Employee_number in (1,2,3,4,5,6);

This statement will return an error.

CASE is directly used in PL SQL, but DECODE is used in PL SQL through SQL only.

These are some important PL SQL interview questions,hope you like this article.