How to use an Oracle Ref Cursor from C# ODP.NET as a ReturnValue Parameter, without using a Stored Function or Procedure?

Question

I need help understanding if the way I\'m trying to use a Ref Cursor as a ReturnValue Parameter for multiple records/values, with the PL/SQL just being the CommandText of an

Answer 1

I will try an answer instead of another comment.

As I said in one comment, a pure/simple select-statement does not work in PL/SQL. But I was wrong in stating, that you need a stored function to return a ref cursor.

But first things first: The type "id_array" you declare in your PL/SQL-block is a PL/SQL type. It cannot be used in a ref cursor select statement. Instead you will need a SQL type:

create type id_array as table of number;

This needs to be executed only once, just like a "create table".

Your PL/SQL-block could then look like this:

DECLARE
    t_ids   id_array;
BEGIN
    UPDATE WorkerStatus
    SET
         StateId = :StateId
        ,StateReasonId = :StateReasonId
    WHERE
        StateId = :CurrentStateId
    RETURNING Id BULK COLLECT INTO t_Ids;

    OPEN :rcursor FOR SELECT * FROM TABLE(cast(t_Ids as id_array));    
END;

PS:
While assembling this post, I realized where the ORA-00942 might come from. The array t_ids was based on a PL/SQL type, which is not known/available on the SQL side.