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Oracle® Database SQL Reference
10g Release 1 (10.1)

Part Number B10759-01
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CREATE PROCEDURE

Purpose

Use the CREATE PROCEDURE statement to create a standalone stored procedure or a call specification.

A procedure is a group of PL/SQL statements that you can call by name. A call specification (sometimes called call spec) declares a Java method or a third-generation language (3GL) routine so that it can be called from SQL and PL/SQL. The call spec tells Oracle Database which Java method to invoke when a call is made. It also tells the database what type conversions to make for the arguments and return value.

Stored procedures offer advantages in the areas of development, integrity, security, performance, and memory allocation.


See Also:


Prerequisites

Before creating a procedure, the user SYS must run a SQL script commonly called DBMSSTDX.SQL. The exact name and location of this script depend on your operating system.

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

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

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.

Syntax


create_procedure::=
Description of create_procedure.gif follows
Description of the illustration create_procedure.gif


invoker_rights_clause::=
Description of invoker_rights_clause.gif follows
Description of the illustration invoker_rights_clause.gif


call_spec::=
Description of call_spec.gif follows
Description of the illustration call_spec.gif


Java_declaration::=
Description of Java_declaration.gif follows
Description of the illustration Java_declaration.gif


C_declaration::=
Description of C_declaration.gif follows
Description of the illustration C_declaration.gif

Semantics


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 Oracle 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 Oracle Database marks the indexes DISABLED.


See Also:

ALTER PROCEDURE for information on recompiling procedures


schema

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


procedure

Specify the name of the procedure to be created.

If creating the procedure results in compilation errors, then the database returns an error. You can see the associated compiler error messages with the SQL*Plus command SHOW ERRORS.


argument

Specify the name of an argument to the procedure. If the procedure does not accept arguments, you can omit the parentheses following the procedure name.


IN

Specify IN to indicate that you must supply a value for the argument when calling the procedure.


OUT

Specify OUT to indicate that the procedure passes a value for this argument back to its calling environment after execution.


IN OUT

Specify IN OUT to indicate that you must supply a value for the argument when calling the procedure and that the procedure passes a value back to its calling environment after execution.

If you omit IN, OUT, and IN OUT, then the argument defaults to IN.


NOCOPY

Specify NOCOPY to instruct the database to pass this argument as fast as possible. This clause can significantly enhance performance when passing a large value like a record, an index-by table, or a varray to an OUT or IN OUT parameter. IN parameter values are always passed NOCOPY.

These effects may or may not occur on any particular call. You should use NOCOPY only when these effects would not matter.


datatype

Specify the datatype of the argument. An argument can have any datatype supported by PL/SQL.

Datatypes cannot specify length, precision, or scale. For example, VARCHAR2(10) is not valid, but VARCHAR2 is valid. Oracle Database derives the length, precision, and scale of an argument from the environment from which the procedure is called.


invoker_rights_clause

The invoker_rights_clause lets you specify whether the procedure executes with the privileges and in the schema of the user who owns it or with the privileges and in the schema of CURRENT_USER.

This clause also determines how the database resolves external names in queries, DML operations, and dynamic SQL statements in the procedure.


AUTHID CURRENT_USER

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


IS | AS Clause

Use the appropriate part of this clause to declare the procedure.


pl/sql_subprogram_body

Declare the procedure in a PL/SQL subprogram body.


See Also:

Oracle Database Application Developer's Guide - Fundamentals for more information on PL/SQL subprograms


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:



AS EXTERNAL

In earlier releases, the AS EXTERNAL clause was an alternative way of declaring a C method. This clause has been deprecated and is supported for backward compatibility only. Oracle recommends that you use the AS LANGUAGE C syntax.

Examples


Creating a Procedure: Example

The following statement creates the procedure remove_emp in the schema hr. The PL/SQL is shown in italics:

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. The PL/SQL is shown in italics:

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