ODP.NET How to pass array of strings to an Oracle Stored procedure?

Question

There\'s numerous question and confusing docs on the subject, but no luck so far.

I\'ve the following PL/SQL stored procedure;

PROCEDURE PS_test(
  L         


        

Answer 1

I haven't used the udtType feature in ODP.NET, so I am not sure how to achieve your goal with this. However, to pass an array of string you don't need it.

Like the documentation you attached, you need to create a package contains your stored procedure, and takes an associative array (not VARRAY) as input parameter.

For example:

-- Create the table
CREATE TABLE TBLTEST (testID NUMBER, name VARCHAR2(50));

CREATE SEQUENCE seq_test
    MINVALUE 1
    START WITH 1
    INCREMENT BY 1
    NOCACHE;

CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE pkgTestArrayBinding
AS 
    -- Define an local scope associative array type called T_ASSOCIATIVE_ARRAY and make it as the type of input parameter
    TYPE T_ASSOCIATIVE_ARRAY IS TABLE OF VARCHAR(50) INDEX BY PLS_INTEGER;
    PROCEDURE TestArrayBinding(
        Param1 IN T_ASSOCIATIVE_ARRAY,
        Param2 IN T_ASSOCIATIVE_ARRAY);
END pkgTestArrayBinding;
/

CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE BODY pkgTestArrayBinding
AS
    PROCEDURE TestArrayBinding(
        Param1 IN  T_ASSOCIATIVE_ARRAY,
        Param2 IN  T_ASSOCIATIVE_ARRAY)
    AS
    BEGIN
        -- for all loop to insert them in a batch
        FORALL indx IN 1..Param1.COUNT
            INSERT INTO tblTest VALUES(seq_test.nextval, Param1(indx));

        FORALL indx IN 1..Param2.COUNT
            INSERT INTO tblTest VALUES(seq_test.nextval, Param2(indx));
    END TestArrayBinding;
END pkgTestArrayBinding;
/

Now, run this code, put your own connection string.

namespace Con1
{
    using System;
    using System.Data;

    using Oracle.DataAccess.Client;

    /// <summary>
    /// The program.
    /// </summary>
    internal class Program
    {
        #region Methods

        /// <summary>
        /// The main.
        /// </summary>
        private static void Main()
        {
            var con = new OracleConnection { ConnectionString = "User Id=usr;Password=pass;Data Source=XE" };

            con.Open();
            Console.WriteLine("Connected to Oracle" + con.ServerVersion);

            // create command to run your package
            var cmd = new OracleCommand("BEGIN pkgTestArrayBinding.TestArrayBinding(:Param1, :Param2); END;", con);

            var param1 = cmd.Parameters.Add("Param1", OracleDbType.Varchar2);
            var param2 = cmd.Parameters.Add("Param2", OracleDbType.Varchar2);

            param1.Direction = ParameterDirection.Input;
            param2.Direction = ParameterDirection.Input;

            // Specify that we are binding PL/SQL Associative Array
            param1.CollectionType = OracleCollectionType.PLSQLAssociativeArray;
            param2.CollectionType = OracleCollectionType.PLSQLAssociativeArray;

            // Setup the values for PL/SQL Associative Array
            param1.Value = new[] { "First Element", "Second Element ", "Third Element_" };
            param2.Value = new[] { "Fourth Element", "Fifth Element ", "Sixth Element " };

            // Specify the maximum number of elements in the PL/SQL Associative Array
            // this should be your array size of your parameter Value.
            param1.Size = 3;
            param2.Size = 3;

            // Setup the ArrayBindSize for each elment in the array, 
            // it should be bigger than the original length of element to avoid truncation
            param1.ArrayBindSize = new[] { 13, 14, 13 };

            // Setup the ArrayBindSize for Param2
            param2.ArrayBindSize = new[] { 20, 20, 20 };

            // execute the cmd
            cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();

            // I am lazy to query the database table here, but you should get you data now.
            // watch what happened to element "Third Element_"

            // Close and Dispose OracleConnection object
            con.Close();
            con.Dispose();
            Console.WriteLine("Disconnected");
        }

        #endregion
    }
}