Oracle PL/SQL - How to create a simple array variable?

Question

I\'d like to create an in-memory array variable that can be used in my PL/SQL code. I can\'t find any collections in Oracle PL/SQL that uses pure memory, they all seem to b

Answer 1

Another solution is to use an Oracle Collection as a Hashmap:

declare 
-- create a type for your "Array" - it can be of any kind, record might be useful
  type hash_map is table of varchar2(1000) index by varchar2(30);
  my_hmap hash_map ;
-- i will be your iterator: it must be of the index's type
  i varchar2(30);
begin
  my_hmap('a') := 'apple';
  my_hmap('b') := 'box';
  my_hmap('c') := 'crow';
-- then how you use it:

  dbms_output.put_line (my_hmap('c')) ;

-- or to loop on every element - it's a "collection"
  i := my_hmap.FIRST;

  while (i is not null)  loop     
    dbms_output.put_line(my_hmap(i));      
    i := my_hmap.NEXT(i);
  end loop;

end;