Oracle in a Nutshell

Pragmas

The PRAGMA keyword allows you to give instructions to the compiler. There are four types of pragmas in PL/SQL:

EXCEPTION_INIT

Tells the compiler to associate the specified error number with an identifier that has been declared an EXCEPTION in your current program or in an accessible package.

RESTRICT_REFERENCES

Tells the compiler the purity level of a packaged program. The purity level is the degree to which a program does not read or write database tables and/or package variables. No longer necessary with Oracle8i.

SERIALLY_REUSABLE

Tells the runtime engine that package data should not persist between references. This is used to reduce per-user memory requirements when the package data is needed only for the duration of the call and not for the duration of the session.

AUTONOMOUS_TRANSACTION

Tells the compiler that the function, procedure, top-level anonymous PL/SQL block, object method, or database trigger executes in its own transaction space. New with Oracle8i.