Hands-On Oracle Database 10g Express Edition for Windows

PL/SQL Blocks

A PL/SQL program is structured using distinct blocks that group related declarations and statements. Each block in a PL/SQL program has a specific task and solves a particular problem. Consequently, you can organize a PL/SQL program so that it is easy to understand.

A PL/SQL block can include three sections, as the following pseudo-code illustrates—program declarations, the main program body, and exception handlers:

DECLARE
-- program declarations are optional
BEGIN
-- program body is required
EXCEPTION
-- exception handlers are optional
END;

Most of the examples in this chapter ask you to use the SQL Command editor that is part of Oracle Application Express to interactively type and execute anonymous PL/SQL blocks while learning ...