Cursors and triggers

Dr. C.Valliyammai, MIT

 Cursors
• To manipulate the information within SQL statement by means of
assigning a name to a ‘select statement’ is known as ‘cursor’
• Used for processing individual rows returned as a result for a query.
• Cursors are special work area in sql.
- The work area contains specific set of rows that are selected by
select statements.
- These work areas are referred by the name of cursors.
• A cursor usually stores a set of rows that are selected by select statements
and it is used to manipulate those records by fetching them one by one.
• Cursor program includes four sub parts namely,
– Cursor declaration
– Opening a Cursor
– Fetching
– Closing a Cursor
Cursor Declaration:
A cursor variable is declared in the declaration part of PL/SQL
block.
Syntax:
Cursor <cursor_name> is
<select statement>
Opening a Cursor:
Before using a cursor it should be opened.
The open statement should be given in the BEGIN – END
construct.
A cursor when opened, will point to the first row by default.
Syntax:
Open <cursor_name>
Fetching:
The set of rows held by a cursor can be fetched (read) row
by row.
A single fetch statement moves the cursor pointer by one
row.
Syntax:

Fetch <cursor_name> into <variable_list>

Closing a Cursor: After processing all the records , the

cursor can be closed.
Syntax:
Close <cursor_name>
 Example
declare
row doctors %rowtype;
cursor d is select * from doctors where rank='sr.surgeon';
begin
open d;
loop
fetch d into row;
exit when d %notfound;
insert into docinfo values(row.dnum,row.dname,row.phno);
end loop;
close d;
end;
/
 Example
declare
row doctors %rowtype;
cursor c is select * from doctors where rank='surgeon';
begin
open c;
loop
fetch c into row;
exit when c %notfound;
update doctors set rank='sr.surgeon';
end loop;
close c;
end;
/
 Example
declare
row doctors %rowtype;
cursor c is select * from doctors where rank='surgeon‘ for update of rank;
begin
open c;
loop
fetch c into row;
exit when c %notfound;
update doctors set rank='sr.surgeon‘ where current of c;
end loop;
close c;
end;
/
 Procedures
A stored procedure is a subroutine available to applications that
access a relational database system.
Typical use for stored procedures include data validation (integrated
into the database) or access control mechanisms.
CREATE [OR REPLACE] PROCEDURE procedure_name [ (parameter
[,parameter]) ]
IS
[declaration_section]
BEGIN
executable_section
[EXCEPTION exception_section]
END [procedure_name];
 Types of parameters
Types of parameters :
• IN - The parameter can be referenced by the procedure or
function. The value of the parameter can not be overwritten
by the procedure or function.
• OUT - The parameter can not be referenced by the procedure
or function, but the value of the parameter can be
overwritten by the procedure or function.
• IN OUT - The parameter can be referenced by the procedure
or function and the value of the parameter can be overwritten
by the procedure or function.
 Procedures
create or replace procedure p
is
row patient %rowtype;
cursor c is
select * from patient where rank='SR';
Begin
open c;
Loop
fetch c into row;
exit when c %notfound;
insert into sr(pid, pname) values(row.pid,row.pname);
commit;
end loop;
close c;
end;

EXECUTE [or EXEC] procedure_name

• Write a procedure to store the studentno, name, class name, fid, fname and dept id in a new
table for meet_at Tuesday
• Write a procedure to give incentive to all the doctors whose rank is surgeon. If no such
doctor found the give appropriate message.
 Procedure Example
create or replace procedure p ( rank_in IN varchar2)is
row patient %rowtype;
cursor c is
select * from patient where rank=rank_in;
Begin
open c;
Loop
fetch c into row;
exit when c %notfound;
insert into sr(pid, pname) values(row.pid,row.pname);
commit;
end loop;
close c;
end;
• Using IN and OUT parameter:
Let’s create a procedure which gets the name of the employee
when the employee id passed.
1> CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE emp_name (id IN NUMBER,
emp_name OUT NUMBER)
2> IS
3> BEGIN
4> SELECT first_name INTO emp_name
5> FROM emp_tbl WHERE empID = id;
6> END;
7> /
We can call the procedure ‘emp_name’ in this way from a PL/SQL
Block.
1> DECLARE
2> empName varchar(20);
3> CURSOR id_cur SELECT id FROM emp_ids;
4> BEGIN
5> FOR emp_rec in id_cur
6> LOOP
7> emp_name(emp_rec.id, empName);
8> dbms_output.putline('The employee ' || empName || ' has
id ' || emp-rec.id);
9> END LOOP;
10> END;
 Triggers
• A trigger is a statement that is executed automatically by
the system as a side effect of a modification to the
database.
• To design a trigger mechanism, we must:
– Specify the conditions under which the trigger is to be executed.
• Events- cause the trigger to be checked
• Condition – must be satisfied for trigger execution to proceed
– Specify the actions to be taken when the trigger executes.
-> event-condition- action model
• Db stores the triggers like regular data; persistent and
accessible to all db operations.
• Useful mech. for alerting humans or for starting certain
tasks automatically when certain conditions are met.
 Trigger Example
• Suppose that instead of allowing negative
account balances, the bank deals with
overdrafts by
– setting the account balance to zero
– creating a loan in the amount of the overdraft
– giving this loan a loan number identical to the account number of the
overdrawn account

• The condition for executing the trigger is an

update to the account relation that results in a
negative balance value.
 When not to use triggers
• Trigger should be written carefully, a trigger
error detected at run time causes the failure
of inert/delete/update st. that set off the
trigger.
• Lead to an infinite chain of triggering (insert
trigger).
• Called as rules, active rules.
 Oracle/PLSQL Topics: Creating
Triggers
• Insert Triggers:
• BEFORE INSERT Trigger
• AFTER INSERT Trigger
• Update Triggers:
• BEFORE UPDATE Trigger
• AFTER UPDATE Trigger
• Delete Triggers:
• BEFORE DELETE Trigger
• AFTER DELETE Trigger
• Drop Triggers:
• Drop a Trigger
• Disable/Enable Triggers:
• Disable a Trigger
• Disable all Triggers on a table
• Enable a Trigger
• Enable all Triggers on a table
 BEFORE INSERT Trigger
A BEFORE INSERT Trigger means that Oracle will fire this trigger before the INSERT
operation is executed.
The syntax for an BEFORE INSERT Trigger is:
CREATE or REPLACE TRIGGER trigger_name
BEFORE INSERT
ON table_name
[ FOR EACH ROW ]
DECLARE
-- variable declarations
BEGIN
-- trigger code
EXCEPTION
WHEN ...
-- exception handling
END;
trigger_name is the name of the trigger to create.
Restrictions:
You can not create a BEFORE trigger on a view.
You can update the :NEW values.
You can not update the :OLD values.
 Triggers

• The syntax for a dropping a Trigger is:

DROP TRIGGER trigger_name;
• The syntax for a disabling a Trigger is:
ALTER TRIGGER trigger_name DISABLE;
• The syntax for a disabling all Triggers on a table is:
ALTER TABLE table_name DISABLE ALL TRIGGERS;
• The syntax for a enabling a Trigger is:
ALTER TRIGGER trigger_name ENABLE;
• The syntax for a enabling all Triggers on a table is:
ALTER TABLE table_name ENABLE ALL TRIGGERS;
 Triggers
create or replace trigger a
after insert
on patients
for each row
begin
if (:new.page<20) then
raise_application_error(20000, 'enter correct age');
else
insert into patients(pnum,pname,page)
values(:new.pnum,:new.pname,:new.page);
end if;
end;
/
 Triggers
create or replace trigger a
before update or insert
on patients
for each row
declare age1 number(10);
begin
select page into age1 from patients;
if age1<20 and age1>30 then
dbms_output.put_line('enter correct age');
end if;
end;
/
 Triggers
create or replace trigger a
after insert or before update
on patients
for each row
begin
if (:new.page<20) then
raise_application_error(20000, 'enter correct age');
else
insert into patients(pnum,pname,page)
values(:new.pnum,:new.pname,:new.page);
end if;
end;
/