SELECT * FROM ALL_DIRECTORIES;

The query above will display all the directories accessible to the current user. They are folders in the server where you can write your output files. For some reason, I forgot about this twice already and had to scour the web to find it. The problem is, I also forgot the keywords. So, I’m writing it now.

To register new directories, you can follow the example below.

Example
create or replace directory mydir as 'c:mydirectory';

To use, run the code below.

declare
f utl_file.file_type;
begin
f := utl_file.fopen('MYDIR', 'myfilename.txt', 'w');
utl_file.put_line(f, 'just another line text 1');
utl_file.put_line(f, 'just another line text 2');
utl_file.fclose(f);
end;

WITH Clause Syntax

WITH
 alias_name         -- alias for the aggregate_query
AS
 (aggregate_query_here)
SELECT...            -- Beginning of the query main body

It should be noted that multiple aggregate queries can be defined in the WITH clause as below.

WITH
 alias_name1
AS
 (agg_query1) ,
 alias_name2
AS
 (agg_query2)
SELECT...

When using subquery factoring, think of the aggregate_query as an in-line view. Actually, it is a view but a temporary one. Instead of creating a permanent view accessible in the database, you are creating a temporary one exclusively used by your main query.

Usage

I primarily use this in creating adhoc queries, reports and extractions. Of course, you can just create a view to accomplish this task. However, there are times wherein you are not allowed to create additional objects in the database for one reason or another. In that case, this subquery optimization comes very handy.

Caveat

You can’t use this inside Oracle Forms. It also doesn’t work inside stored procedures or anything with PL/SQL in it. At least I’m talking about until 11g.

Syntax #1


CASE [ expression ]
WHEN condition_1 THEN result_1
WHEN condition_2 THEN result_2
...
WHEN condition_n THEN result_n
ELSE result
END


Example


SELECT last_name, commission_pct,
(CASE commission_pct
WHEN 0.1 THEN ‘Low’
WHEN 0.15 THEN ‘Average’
WHEN 0.2 THEN ‘High’
ELSE ‘N/A’
END ) Commission
FROM employees ORDER BY last_name;


Syntax #2


CASE
WHEN [ condition_1 ] THEN result_1
WHEN [ condition_2 ] THEN result_2
...
WHEN [ condition_n ] THEN result_n
ELSE result
END


Example


SELECT m.paper_type ,
m.paper_brand ,
m.paper_grammage,
m.paper_width ,
m.paper_length ,
m.paper_stock_no,
(
CASE
WHEN NVL(smc.qty_reserved_onhand,0) != NVL(st.sum_qty_r_oh,0) THEN 'QROH NOT TALLY'
WHEN NVL(smc.qty_reserved_incom,0) != NVL(st.sum_qty_r_incom,0) THEN 'QRINC NOT TALLY'
WHEN NVL(smc.ton_reserved_onhand,0) != NVL(st.sum_ton_r_oh,0) THEN 'TROH NOT TALLY'
WHEN NVL(smc.ton_reserved_incom,0) != NVL(st.sum_ton_r_incom,0) THEN 'TRINC NOT TALLY'
END
) ERROR_MESSAGE
from paper_stock_master m


Personally, I use Syntax #2 most of the time. I don’t know why but maybe it just happened that I find it more suitable to use in the situations that I needed the CASE statement.

Difference Between DECODE and CASE WHEN

The most fundamental difference between the two oracle statements is that in DECODE, you are comparing a field or value in a given set of values or fields. It’s actually a shorthand for IF..ELSIF..ELSE statement with the condition all set to equals (=). CASE WHEN is almost the same but you can use any conditional operator (i.e, =,!=, >, >= , <, <=, etc) thereby giving you more freedom and flexibility in writing your code.

In may instances CASE WHEN helped me reduce the number of lines of my codes as well as optimize the performance. On top of that, I no longer need a full pl/sql program with multiple queries and even cursors to be able to provide the result that a simple CASE statement can provide. However CASE, like any other sql commands, is only applicable for certain scenarios. It’s not a magic keyword that will solve/apply to everything. So you have to weigh your options if you need it or not.

Ciao!

Example

alter table
employee
rename to
employee_bak;


I googled for answer and here’s what I got.

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION LONG_TO_CHAR( in_rowid rowid,in_owner
varchar,in_table_name varchar,in_column varchar2)
RETURN varchar AS
text_c1 varchar2(32767);
sql_cur varchar2(2000);
--
begin
sql_cur := 'select '||in_column||' from
'||in_owner||'.'||in_table_name||' where rowid =
'||chr(39)||in_rowid||chr(39);
dbms_output.put_line (sql_cur);
execute immediate sql_cur into text_c1;

text_c1 := substr(text_c1, 1, 5000);
RETURN TEXT_C1;
END;


It’s pretty simple but unfortunately, we can’t do this without using function.

Example use:

SELECT MI_F_LONG_TO_CHAR(ROWID, 'SIEBEL','EIM_ORDER','ORD_X_COMMENTS')
FROM SIEBEL.EIM_ORDER


credit to Oracle Mag for this entry.

First Step : create plan
EXPLAIN PLAN FOR
SELECT field1, field2
FROM table;

Second Step: show results

SELECT * FROM TABLE(DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY);


You will need the necessary privileges to execute this. You’ll also need to have the PLAN table. If not, you’ll have to create it as that’s the placeholder where execution plan is written.

This technique is important especially when you don’t have a GUI-based SQL editor like PL/SQL Developer or TOAD.