Oracle PL/SQL 12c and 18c New Features + RADstack + Community Sites

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Oracle Database 12c & 18c
Oracle PL/SQL New Features +
Steven Feuerstein
Oracle Developer Advocate for PL/SQL
Oracle Corporation
Email: steven.feuerstein@oracle.com
Twitter: @sfonplsql
Blog: stevenfeuersteinonplsql.blogspot.com
YouTube: Practically Perfect PL/SQL

In the Approaching Age of Autonomous Database
• The infrastructure managing your data goes invisible.
• The focus will shift even more decisively to application
development and developers.
• Database features that aid in application development will be key.
• Tools that are data-aware and data-centric will offer key advantages
for many, perhaps most, appdev projects.

In the Approaching Age of Autonomous Database
• (and PL/SQL)
May the Best SQL Win!

Development
Services
Cloud to On-Premise, Clustering,
Microservices, Sharding, Security,
High Availability, Isolation,
Zero Data Loss, Administration
Data Support
Node.js, Python, .NET, Java,
PHP, Ruby, PL/SQL, C, C++,
Perl, Go, EBR, REST Services,
Advanded Queuing,
APEX, SODA, Docker
Relational, JSON, XML,
Spatial, Graph, RDF,
Text, Binary. Object
Stores, HDFS, Kafka,
NoSQL Stores
Platform Services
Analytical Services
SQL, R, Columnar In-Memory,
Advanced Analytics,
Machine Learning, AI
Oracle Database as a Data and Appdev Platform
Infrastructure Services
Public Cloud, Cloud at Customer,
Exadata, BDA, ZDLRA

5
Introducing the RAD Stack

Oracle RAD Stack
6
• REST
• Declaratively build REST Data Access APIs from APEX
• Facilitates Integration and Micro Services
• Easily consumed by all languages
• Application Expression - APEX
• Low Code Application Development
• IT Professionals, and citizen developers
• LOB Point Solutions, SaaS Extensions
• Differentiated, Low Code, Strong Community
• Database
• SQL popularity continues to grow
• PL/SQL implements data APIs and tight security
• SQL Dev and SQL Dev web provide easy access Full Stack Solution for data driven business apps

7
• Oracle Standard
• Auto REST on Objects
• SQL Dev Web*
• Custom REST
• Swagger / Open API
• WLS and Tomcat
• SQL over REST
• Pagination
• Virus Scanner
• APEX Listener
• Embedded Jetty
• Jersey*
ROracle REST Data Services (ORDS)

8
• APEX 18 now available
• Declarative
• Database Encapsulated
• No cost feature of Oracle
• Native SQL Integration
• SQL Workshop
• REST Workshop
• Portable
• Page Designer
• REST Enabled
• Forms on Tables
• Dynamic Actions
• Interactive Reports
• Jet Charts + JET
• Interactive Grids
• Universal Theme
Oracle APEX
A

9
Oracle Database
• Proven
• Large Install Base
• Activity Community
• Hardened
• SQL
• Analytics
• Standards Based
• JSON and XML
• PL/SQL
• In Memory
• Flashback
• Text
• Engineered systems
• Pluggable Databases
• Scalable
• Highly Available
• MVRC
• Spatial
• Autonomous*
• Diagnosable
• Portability
• RAC
• Sharding
• Analytic Views
D

10
• Opportunistic Apps / Point Solutions
• SaaS / EBS Extensions
• Oracle Forms Modernization
• AppDev as a Service
• External Data Sharing
• Datamart Reporting
• Built-in Point Solutions
• Spreadsheet Replacement
• Enterprise Applications
Oracle APEX / RAD Stack Use Cases

11
What differentiates RAD Stack?
• Empowering (even managers can create beautiful apps)
• Full Stack Solution (simply provide infrastructure)
• Browser based application development
• Data (and SQL) centric: tightly tied to database
• Supports no-code, low-code and full-code development styles
• Enthusiastic community filled with experts eager to share their expertise
• Portable: it runs wherever Oracle database runs
• Free hosted service at apex.oracle.com
• No cost solution (with XE, it's all FREE!)

We Offer More Than Just Great Products
• Free resources to help you fully leverage the database

Free Q&A, Training, Workouts, Classes, Scripts!
• Oracle AskTOM – https://asktom.oracle.com
–Q&A site, Office Hours with database experts, and much more
• Oracle Dev Gym – https://devgym.oracle.com
–Quizzes, workouts and classes for an active learning experience
• Oracle LiveSQL – https://livesql.oracle.com
–24x7 access to the latest release of Oracle Database, plus a script
library and tutorials

The Latest, Greatest Ask TOM
• Tom Kyte's retired but the famous
Q&A site is going strong.
– Expanded answer team, modernized
UI
• Now it's "Ask The Oracle Masters"
• And we recently added a program
designed specifically for our
customers: AskTOM Office Hours

Ask TOM – Fantastic Answer Repository
• Level of activity on AskTOM is
comparable to the Oracle
Database-related activity on
StackOverflow.
– No small achievement!
• Constant enhancements to the
Q&A
• Write those LiveSQL test cases!
• Don't just copy-paste code!

Ask TOM Office Hours
• Monthly, live, FREE sessions with
Oracle Database experts
– Product managers, evangelists,
developers
• Sessions range from mini-lessons
to full-on trainings to "ask me
anything" Q&A.
• Subscribe to receive reminders of
upcoming sessions.
• Sessions recorded for later viewing

LiveSQL: SQL and PL/SQL Script Library + More
• 24x7 access to the latest
Oracle Database release
• Script library for personal use
or sharing with community
• Great "scratchpad" for trying
out and improving your SQL
and PL/SQL skills
• Tutorials on growing number
of Oracle Database topics

The Oracle Dev Gym: Quizzes, Workouts, Classes
• An "active learning" site that
utilizes quizzes to deepen user
knowledge and expertise
• Workouts combine videos and
articles with related quizzes
• Classes offer a "mini-MOOC",
low-barrier learning experience
• Tournament quizzes for those
who want to compete

Move beyond copy-paste for your expertise!
• Too many developers these days rely on
Internet searches for all the answers to
their programming questions.
– Copy and paste your way to a solution?
Maybe....
• The Oracle Database team offers a set of
community-oriented sites that offer useful
resources and guidance.
• Take advantage of all we have built for you!
asktom.oracle.com
devgym.oracle.com
livesql.oracle.com

A Roundup of New PL/SQL Features
• 18c Qualified expressions for collections and records
• Whitelisting with the ACCESSIBLE_BY Clause
• More PL/SQL-Only Data Types Cross PL/SQL-to-SQL Interface
• Optimizing Function Execution in SQL
• The UTL_CALL_STACK Package
• Privileges/Access Management for Program Units
• Static Expressions In Place of Literals
Part 1

A Roundup of New Features
• Marking elements for deprecation
• PL/Scope now includes SQL statements in its analysis
• Support for JSON in PL/SQL via new object types
• Block code coverage
• Improvements to DBMS_HPROF, the hierarchical profiler
• DBMS_SQL support for PL/SQL types
Part 2

Qualified Expressions (Constructors) for Associative Arrays
and Records
• In-line assignment of values to our user-defined types!
Nice improvement in developer productivity and code simplicity
DECLARE
TYPE ints_t IS TABLE OF INTEGER
INDEX BY PLS_INTEGER;
l_ints ints_t := ints_t (
1 => 55, 2 => 555, 3 => 5555);
BEGIN
...
END;
DECLARE
TYPE ints_t IS TABLE OF INTEGER
INDEX BY PLS_INTEGER;
l_ints;
BEGIN
l_ints (1) := 55;
l_ints (2) := 555;
l_ints (3) := 5555;
...
END;

PL/Scope: powerful code analysis tool
• This compiler-driven tool collects information about identifiers and
statements, and stores it in data dictionary views.
– As of 12.2, this includes analysis of SQL statements inside your PL/SQL code.
• Use PL/Scope to answer questions like:
– Where is a variable assigned a value in a program?
– Which subprograms call another subprogram?
– Which SQL statements appear more than once in my application?
– Where do inserts, updates, deletes occur against a specific table?

The ACCESSIBLE_BY Clause 12.1
• ACCESSIBLE_BY extends the concept of "privacy" for package
subprograms.
• Use it to define a "whitelist" of program units that can invoke a package's
subprograms.
When that public procedure really shouldn’t be used
12c_accessible_by.sql
PACKAGE private_pkg
ACCESSIBLE BY (public_pkg)
IS
PROCEDURE do_this;
PROCEDURE do_that;
END;
PACKAGE BODY public_pkg
IS
PROCEDURE do_only_this
IS
BEGIN
private_pkg.do_this;
private_pkg.do_that;
END;
END;

More PL/SQL-Only Data Types Cross PL/SQL-to-SQL
Interface
• Prior to 12c, PL/SQL-only datatypes could not be bound in dynamic SQL
statements, restricted what functions could be called in SQL, etc.
• Now, those constraints are greatly relaxed.
– Bind records and associative arrays
– Use TABLE operator with associative arrays
– Can bind Booleans with dynamic PL/SQL, but you cannot bind Booleans into SQL
statements.
TABLE with associative arrays!
12c_table*.sql 12c_bind*.sql

Optimizing Function Execution in SQL
• That seems like an awfully good idea!
• Two methods:
– WITH clause that defines a function
– UDF pragma that gives more options to the compiler
• WITH FUNCTION: define a function directly within your SQL statement.
– Say goodbye to nasty context switch!
For all those user-defined functions
12c_with_function*.sql 12c_udf*.sql

The UTL_CALL_STACK Package
• Prior to 12c, you could obtain several kinds of "stacks" through individual
function calls:
– DBMS_UTILITY.FORMAT_CALL_STACK - "How did I get here?"
– DBMS_UTILITY.FORMAT_ERROR_STACK - "What is the error message/stack?"
– DBMS_UTILITY.FORMAT_ERROR_BACKTRACE - "On what line was my error raised?"
• Now, the UTL_CALL_STACK package supports all that and a much better
API to the info in the stack.
Improved execution stack granularity and more
12c_utl_call_stack*.sql

Static Expressions In Place of Literals
• Static PL/SQL expressions are allowed where only literals were allowed.
• You no longer have to hard-code maximum lengths for VARCHAR2
variables and other data types.
• You can even use the built-in ORA_MAX_NAME_LEN for the new extended
name lengths.
No more VARCHAR2(32767)!
IS
my_big_var VARCHAR2 (ORA_MAX_NAME_LEN + 2);
my_qualified_var VARCHAR2 (2 * (ORA_MAX_NAME_LEN +2) + 1);
BEGIN
my_big_var := '"Table_Name";
my_qualified_var := "Schema_Name"."Table_Name";
122_expressions.sql

Goodbye, "Tiny" Name Lengths!
• Instead of 30 bytes you can now go all the way up to 128.
• But this doesn't mean you should.
• Most beneficial for:
– Migrations from other databases to Oracle
– Multi-byte character sets
– Being able to squeak just over that 30 character barrier and no longer having to
compromise readability
Now your identifiers can go on_and_on_and_on_and_on_and_on_and_on_...
122_long_identifiers.sql

Goodbye, Tiny SQL VARCHAR2!
• It sure has been irritating that PL/SQL supports VARCHAR2s up to 32K in
size (after which , you must switch over to CLOBs), while in SQL, the
maximum was 4000.
• Now, SQL's VARCHAR2 and NVARCHAR2 have been extended to 32K as
well!
• Note: SQL has these maximum sizes only if the MAX_STRING_SIZE
initialization parameter is set to EXTENDED.
And one more impedance between PL/SQL and SQL
12c_sql_varchar2.sql

Kill Off that Old, Dead (should be Zombie) Code.
• In 12.2, you can now document via a pragma code that has been
deprecated.
• You can then use compile-time warnings to:
– identify usages of deprecated code
– make it impossible to compile program units that use deprecated code
• But don't make PLW-06019 an error. That simply documents the use of the
pragma.
But how do you find it?
CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE old_pkg AUTHID DEFINER
AS
PRAGMA DEPRECATE (old_pkg, 'Use new_pkg instead!');
PROCEDURE proc;
END;

Grant Roles to Program Units (back to 12.1)
• Grant roles to program units, so you fine-tune the privileges available to
the invoker of a program unit.
– Helpful when you don't want the invoker to inherit all of the definer's privileges.
• Roles granted to a program unit do not affect compilation.
– Instead, they affect the privilege checking of SQL statements that the unit issues at
run time.
– Unit executes with privileges of both its own roles and any other currently enabled
roles.
Nice usability enhancement
12c_grant_role_units.sql 12c_roles_for_program_units.sql
Most helpful when unit executing dynamic SQL

BEQUEATH CURRENT_USER for Views
• Prior to 12.1, if your view executed a function, it would always be run
under the privileges of the view's owner, and not that of the function.
– Even if the function was defined with AUTHID CURRENT_USER
• Add the BEQUEATH CURRENT_USER clause and then the invoker right's
mode of the function will be "honored."
Tying up a loose end
12c_bequeath.sql

INHERIT PRIVILEGES and INHERIT ANY PRIVILEGES
• More fine-tuning for privilege management!
• You can override AUTHID and BEQUEATH settings by revoking INHERIT
PRIVILEGES.
– On a schema-level basis
• You can say, in effect: "All schemas but SCOTT can use my privileges when
running X."
• After upgrade, all works as before.
– INHERT PRIVILEGES granted to all schemas
Yes, there’s more!
12c_inherit_privileges.sql

And is that it?
• Support for JSON in PL/SQL via new pre-defined JSON types
• Block code coverage
• Improvements to DBMS_HPROF, the hierarchical profiler
• DBMS_SQL support for PL/SQL types
No, there's more, but there's no more time.

It's All About the App – And Their Users
• So take full advantage of everything Oracle
offers to make your development a success!
….and underneath it all is data

Oracle PL/SQL 12c and 18c New Features + RADstack + Community Sites

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Oracle PL/SQL 12c and 18c New Features + RADstack + Community Sites