PL/SQL Functions
What is a Function in PL/SQL?
A function is a named PL/SQL Block which is similar to a procedure. The major difference
between a procedure and a function is, a function must always return a value, but a procedure
may or may not return a value.
General Syntax to create a function is
CREATE [OR REPLACE] FUNCTION function_name [parameters]
RETURN return_datatype;
IS
Declaration_section
BEGIN
Execution_section
Return return_variable;
EXCEPTION
exception section
Return return_variable;
END;
For example, let’s create a function called ''employer_details_func' similar to the one created in
stored proc
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION employer_details_func
RETURN VARCHAR(20);
IS
emp_name VARCHAR(20);
BEGIN
SELECT first_name INTO emp_name
FROM emp_tbl WHERE empID = '100';
RETURN emp_name;
END;
/
How to execute a PL/SQL Function?
A function can be executed in the following ways.
1) Since a function returns a value we can assign it to a variable.
employee_name := employer_details_func;
If ‘employee_name’ is of datatype varchar we can store the name of the employee by assigning
the return type of the function to it.
2) As a part of a SELECT statement
SELECT employer_details_func FROM dual;
3) In a PL/SQL Statements like,
dbms_output.put_line(employer_details_func);
This line displays the value returned by the function.
The following program calculates the factorial of a given number by calling itself recursively −
DECLARE
num number;
factorial number;
FUNCTION fact(x number)
RETURN number
IS
f number;
BEGIN
IF x=0 THEN
f := 1;
ELSE
f := x * fact(x-1);
END IF;
RETURN f;
END;
BEGIN
num:= 6;
factorial := fact(num);
dbms_output.put_line(' Factorial '|| num || ' is ' || factorial);
END;
/
When the above code is executed at the SQL prompt, it produces the following result −
Factorial 6 is 720
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
Example
The following example demonstrates Declaring, Defining, and Invoking a Simple PL/SQL Function
that computes and returns the maximum of two values.
DECLARE
a number;
b number;
c number;
FUNCTION findMax(x IN number, y IN number)
RETURN number
IS
z number;
BEGIN
IF x > y THEN
z:= x;
ELSE
Z:= y;
END IF;
RETURN z;
END;
BEGIN
a:= 21;
b:= 40;
c := findMax(a, b);
dbms_output.put_line(' Maximum of (21,40): ' || c);
END;
/
When the above code is executed at the SQL prompt, it produces the following result −
Maximum of (21,40): 40
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.