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Database Programming with PL/SQL

2-5: Writing PL/SQL Executable Statements
Practice Activities
Vocabulary
Identify the vocabulary word for each definition below:

Converts values from one data type to another by using built-in

functions.

Converts data types dynamically if they are mixed in a statement.

Try It / Solve It
1. Examine the following code and then answer the questions.
DECLARE
x VARCHAR2(20);
BEGIN
x := '123' + '456' ;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(x);
END;

A. What do you think the output will be when you run the above code?

B. Now, run the code. What is the output?

C. In your own words, describe what happened when you ran the code. Did any implicit
conversions take place?
2. Write an anonymous PL/SQL block that assigns the programmer’s full name to a variable, and
then displays the number of characters in the name.

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3. Write an anonymous PL/SQL block that uses today's date and outputs it in the format of ‘Month dd,
yyyy’. Store the date in a DATE variable called my_date. Create another variable of the DATE type
called v_last_day. Assign the last day of this month to v_last_day. Display the value of v_last_day.

4. Modify the program created in question 3 to add 45 days to today’s date and then calculate and
display the number of months between the two dates.

5. Examine the following code and then answer the questions.

DECLARE
x NUMBER(6);
BEGIN
x := 5 + 3 * 2 ;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(x);
END;

A. What do you think the output will be when you run the above code?

B. Now run the code. What is the output?

C. In your own words, explain the results.

6. Examine the following code and then answer the question.

DECLARE
v_number NUMBER;
v_boolean BOOLEAN;
BEGIN
v_number := 25;
v_boolean := NOT(v_number > 30);
END;

What value is assigned to v_boolean?

7. List two drawbacks to relying on implicit data type conversions.

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Database Programming with PL/SQL

2-6: Nested Blocks and Variable Scope
Practice Activities
Vocabulary
Identify the vocabulary word for each definition below.

A name given to a block of code which allows access to the variables that
have scope, but are not visible.

Consists of all the blocks in which the variable is either local (the declaring
block) or global (nested blocks within the declaring block) .

The portion of the program where the variable can be accessed without
using a qualifier.

Try It / Solve It
1. Evaluate the PL/SQL block below and determine the value of each of the following variables
according to the rules of scoping.

DECLARE
weight NUMBER(3) := 600;
message VARCHAR2(255) := 'Product 10012';
BEGIN

DECLARE
weight NUMBER(3) := 1;
message VARCHAR2(255) := 'Product 11001';
new_locn VARCHAR2(50) := 'Europe';
BEGIN
weight := weight + 1;
new_locn := 'Western ' || new_locn;
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 2

-- Position 1 --
END;

weight := weight + 1;
message := message || ' is in stock';
-- Position 2 --
END;

A. The value of weight at position 1 is:

B. The value of new_locn at position 1 is:

C. The value of weight at position 2 is:

D. The value of message at position 2 is:

E. The value of new_locn at position 2 is:

2. Enter and run the following PL/SQL block, which contains a nested block. Look at the
output and answer the questions.

DECLARE
v_employee_id employees.employee_id%TYPE;
v_job employees.job_id%TYPE;
BEGIN
SELECT employee_id, job_id INTO v_employee_id, v_job
FROM employees
WHERE employee_id = 100;

DECLARE
v_employee_id employees.employee_id%TYPE;
v_job employees.job_id%TYPE;
BEGIN
SELECT employee_id, job_id INTO v_employee_id, v_job
FROM employees
WHERE employee_id = 103;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(v_employee_id || ' is a(n) ' || v_job);
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END;

DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(v_employee_id || ' is a(n) ' || v_job);

END;

A. Why does the inner block display the job_id of employee 103, not employee 100?

B. Why does the outer block display the job_id of employee 100, not employee 103?

C. Modify the code to display the details of employee 100 in the inner block. Use block labels.

Copyright © 2019, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their
respective owners.