Oracle PL/SQL Programming, 5th Edition

Managing Java in the Database

This section explores in more detail issues related to the way that Java elements are stored in the database and how you can manage those elements.

The Java Namespace in Oracle

Oracle stores each Java class in the database as a schema object. The name of that object is derived from (but is not the same as) the fully qualified name of the class; this name includes the names of any containing packages. The full name of the class OracleSimpleChecker, for example, is as follows:

oracle.sqlj.checker.OracleSimpleChecker

In the database, however, the full name of the Java schema object would be:

oracle/sqlj/checker/OracleSimpleChecker

In other words, once stored in the Oracle database, slashes replace dots.

An object name in Oracle, whether the name of a database table or a Java class, cannot be longer than 30 characters. Java does not have this restriction; you can have much longer names. Oracle will allow you to load a Java class into the Oracle database with a name of up to 4,000 characters. If the Java element name has more than 30 characters, the database will automatically generate a valid alias (less than 31 characters) for that element.

But don’t worry! You never have to reference that alias in your stored procedures. You can instead continue to use the real name for your Java element in your code. Oracle will map that long name automatically to its alias (the schema name) when necessary.

Examining Loaded Java Elements

Once you have loaded Java source, class, ...