The Structure of a PL/SQL Block

PL/SQL is a block-structured language, meaning that PL/SQL programs are divided and written in logical blocks of code. Within a PL/SQL block of code, processes such as data manipulation or queries can occur. The following parts of a PL/SQL block are discussed in this section:

  • The DECLARE section contains the definitions of variables and other objects such as constants and cursors. This section is an optional part of a PL/SQL block.

  • The PROCEDURE section contains conditional commands and SQL statements and is where the block is controlled. This section is the only mandatory part of a PL/SQL block.

  • The EXCEPTION section tells the PL/SQL block how to handle specified errors and user-defined exceptions. This section ...

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