8/1/2016

Using.NETStoredProceduresinOracle

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Mastering.NETApplicationDevelopmentwithOracle
Using.NETStoredProceduresinOracle
byMarkA.Williams
Astepbystepguidetodeveloping,deploying,anddebuggingyour.NETStoredProceduresinOracleDatabase10gRelease2
Downloadsforthisarticle
Samplecode
OracleDeveloperToolsforVisualStudio.NET,version10.2orlater
OracleDatabase10g,version10.2orlater
PublishedNovember2005
Ifyouarea.NETdeveloper,oneofthemostexcitingfeaturesofOracleDatabase10gRelease2forWindowsistheabilitytoimplementstored
proceduresusingthe.NETlanguageofyourchoice,viaOracleDatabaseExtensionsforNET.
InthisinstallmentofMastering.NETApplicationDevelopmentwithOracle,youwilllearnastepbystepapproachfortakingadvantageof.NET
storedproceduresinyourapplications.Youwilllearnhow.NETstoredproceduresaresupported,howtoinstallandconfiguretheOracle
Databasetoenablesupportfor.NETstoredprocedures,howtodevelopanddeploy.NETstoredprocedures,and,finally,howtodebug.NET
storedprocedures.

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EnterpriseArchitecture

PL/SQLstoredproceduresandfunctionsruninthesameprocessastheOracleDatabaseandarestoredinsideofOracle.A.NETstored
procedure,ontheotherhand,runsinanexternalprocessandthe.NETcodeiscompiledintoa".NETassembly,"whichisadynamiclinklibrary
(DLL)filestoredinthefilesystem(usuallyonthesamemachineasthedatabase).The.NETassemblyisloadedintoandexecutedinsideofa
"CLRhost"externalprocessnamedextproc.exe,whichisspawnedbytheWindowsservicenamed<OracleHomeName>ClrAgnt.Whena.NET
storedprocedurecallismade,Oraclecommunicateswiththisexternalprocess,passingintheargumentsandretrievingtheresults.This
communicationishandledbytheOraclemultithreadedagentarchitecture.Totheenduser,a.NETstoredprocedurecallappearstobeno
differentthananyothertypeofstoredprocedurecall.Infact,a.NETstoredprocedurecanbecalledfromanyenvironmentwhereyoucouldcall
aPL/SQLorJavastoredprocedure.

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Installationandconfiguration:
IfyouareusingOracleDatabase10gExpressEdition,.NETstoredproceduresareautomaticallyinstalledandconfigurednoadditional
configurationisrequired.IntheStandardandEnterpriseEditions,however,.NETstoredproceduresarenotinstalledandconfiguredbydefault.
Herearebasicinstructionstogeteverythingworkingforthoseinstalls:
DownloadOracleDatabase10.2orlaterfortheWindowsplatform.(Note:.NETstoredproceduresarenotsupportedonanyotherplatform!)
Runtheinstaller(setup.exe).
ChooseAdvancedInstallationandthenCustom.
Alongwithyourotherinstallationchoices,makesuretotickoffOracleDatabaseExtensionsfor.NET.
Whentheinstallationiscomplete,runtheDatabaseConfigurationAssistant(fromtheStartMenu,Oracle,ConfigurationandMigrationTools).
Intheassistant,choosetoconfiguretheOracleDatabaseExtensionsfor.NETdatabaseoption.
Whencomplete,makesurethe<OracleHome>ClrAgentservicehasstarted.
DownloadtheOracleDeveloperToolsforVisualStudio.NETversion10.2orlaterandinstall.Thisversionisrequiredforyoutobeableto
deployyour.NETstoredprocedures.
DevelopandDeploya.NETStoredProcedure
Youwilldevelopanddeployasimple,yetfullyfunctional,.NETstoredproceduretoretrieveacountrynamebasedonacountrycode.Youwill
usethecountriestableintheHRsampleschemathatispartofOracleDatabase10gRelease2.Thecountriestablehasthefollowingstructure:
SQL>desccountries
NameNull?Type

COUNTRY_IDNOTNULLCHAR(2)
COUNTRY_NAMEVARCHAR2(40)
REGION_IDNUMBER
Tocreatethestoredprocedure,youuseanewprojecttypeinVisualStudio.NET2003,the"OracleProject":

CreateanewOracleProjectcalled"MyStoredProcedure"andyouwillseethattheprojectwizardhasaddedareferencetotheOracleData
Providerfor.NETassemblyandaddedtheODP.NETnamespacestotheclassfile.TheVisualStudio.NET2003developmentenvironment
shouldresemblethefollowing:

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YouwillreplacetheStoredProcedure1proceduregeneratedbytheprojectwizardwithyourcodetogetacountrynamefromthecountriestable.
YournewprocedurewillacceptacountryIDasanintegerparameterandreturnthecountrynameasastringvalue.Akeypointtonoticeasyou
developyourprocedureisthatthecodeina.NETstoredprocedureisvirtuallyidenticaltothecodeyouuseinastandaloneprogram.Infact,
theonlydifferenceyouwillseeistheconnectionstringusedtoestablishtheconnectiontothedatabase.Hereisthecompletecode:
usingSystem;
usingSystem.Data;
usingOracle.DataAccess.Client;
usingOracle.DataAccess.Types;
namespaceMyStoredProcedure
{
///<summary>
///SummarydescriptionforClass1.
///</summary>
publicclassClass1
{
publicstaticstringGetCountryName(stringCountryID)
{
//usedtoreturnthecountryname
stringCountryName="";
//Getaconnectiontothedb
//contextconnectionisusedinastoredprocedure
OracleConnectioncon=newOracleConnection();
con.ConnectionString="contextconnection=true";
con.Open();
//Createcommandandparameterobjects
OracleCommandcmd=con.CreateCommand();
cmd.CommandText="selectcountry_namefromcountrieswherecountry_id=:1";
cmd.Parameters.Add(":1",OracleDbType.Varchar2,CountryID,ParameterDirection.Input);

//getadatareader
OracleDataReaderrdr=cmd.ExecuteReader();
//getthecountrynamefromthedatareader
if(rdr.Read())
{
CountryName=rdr.GetString(0);
}

//cleanupobjects
rdr.Close();
cmd.Dispose();
//Returnthecountryname
returnCountryName;
}
}
}
Again,otherthanthespecialconnectionstring,thiscodeisidenticaltothatyouwouldincludeinaclientapplication.Thecontext
connection=trueishowyouindicatethatthecodeusestheconnectionoftheprocessthatcalleditandyoumayonlyspecifycontext
connection=truewithinastoredprocedure.TheOracleConnectionhasanewpropertycalledIsAvailablethatyoucanusetodetermine
ifyourcodeisexecutinginthecontextofastoredprocedure.IftheIsAvailablepropertyreturnstrue,thecodeisexecutinginthecontextofa
storedprocedure.Thispropertyreturnsfalseotherwise.Youcaneasilyusethispropertytobuildaconnectionstringbasedonwhetheryour
codeisexecutinginastoredprocedureorinastandaloneapplication.Thisallowsforyoucodetobereusedwithverylittleeffort.
Beforeyoudeployyourstoredprocedure,youmustfirstbuildtheproject.Sinceyouwilldebugyourprocedureafterdeployingit,makesureyou
performadebugbuildoftheproject.Afterbuildingtheproject,youdeployittothedatabaseusingadeploymentwizard.Atthistime,youmust
useaSYSDBAconnectiontothedatabaseinordertodeploythestoredprocedure.IfyoudonothaveaSYSDBAconnectionavailableinthe
DataConnectionnodewithintheOracleDeveloperToolsforVisualStudio.NET,thewizardwillallowyoutocreateone.
Todeploythestoredprocedure,selectBuildDeploySolutionfromtheVisualStudio.NET2003menubar.Thiswillstartthedeployment
wizard:

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Afterreviewingtheinformationonthefirststepofthewizard,clickonNext.Youwillthenbepromptedtoselectthedatabaseconnectiontouse.
Ifyoudonothaveadatabaseconnectionalreadydefined,clickontheNewConnectionbutton.Otherwise,choosetheSYSDBAenabled
connectionyouwouldliketouse:

Afterselectingthedatabaseconnectiontouse,clickontheNextbutton.Thisstepinthewizardallowsyoutoselectthedeploymentoptionyou
wishtouse.Becauseyouhavenotyetdeployedthisprocedure,acceptthedefaultoptiontodeploytheassemblyandcreatestoredprocedure
wrappersinthedatabase:

ClickontheNextbuttontoproceed.YouspecifythenameoftheDLLthatwillbeusedwhentheprojecthasbeendeployed:

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AcceptthedefaultvaluessuppliedbythewizardandclickonNexttospecifythedirectorytowhichtheprojectwillbedeployed:

SimplyclickonNexttoacceptthedefaultvalues.Thiswilldeploytheprojecttothe%ORACLE_HOME%\bin\clrdirectory.Thenextstepallows
youtospecifywhichmethodstodeploy,theschemainwhichthemethodsshouldbedeployed,thenameofthemethodinthedatabase,the
securitylevel,andthetypemappings:

Todeploytheprojectcorrectly,selecttheGetCountryNamemethod,selectHRastheschema,acceptthesupplieddatabasemethodname,and
acceptthesuppliedsecuritylevel.
Therearethreesecuritylevelsavailable:
Safe:Accesstodatabaseresourcesonly.Noaccesstoresourcessuchasthelocalfilesystemornetworkconnections
External:Accesstoresourcessuchasfilesystemsandnetworkconnections
Unsafe:Norestrictions
Tospecifytheinputandoutputparametermappingsbetweenthedatabaseand.NETdatatypes,clickontheParameterTypeMappingbutton:

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Thewizardhasselectedvaluesbasedonthe.NETtypesinyourcode.Acceptthesevaluesastheyareappropriate.
Thefinalstepinthedeploymentwizardpresentsasummaryoftheoptionsselectedandallowsyoutoviewascriptoftheactionstobe
performed.Toperformtheactualdeployment,clickontheFinishbutton.Oncethedeploymentiscompleteyoucanverifythefilehasbeen
createdbyexaminingthedeploymentdirectory:
C:\>dirc:\oracle\10.2\database\bin\clr
VolumeindriveCisLocalDisk
VolumeSerialNumberis94FF538C
Directoryofc:\oracle\10.2\database\bin\clr
09/10/200507:18PM<DIR>.
09/10/200507:18PM<DIR>..
09/10/200507:18PM16,384MyStoredProcedure.dll
1File(s)16,384bytes
2Dir(s)26,689,114,112bytesfree
Toverifythattheprocedurehasbeencorrectlydeployedandfunctionscorrectly,youuseSQL*Plus:
SQL*Plus:Release10.2.0.1.0ProductiononSatSep1019:21:472005
Copyright(c)1982,2005,Oracle.Allrightsreserved.
SQL>connecthr
Enterpassword:
Connected.
SQL>selectGetCountryName('FR')fromdual;
GETCOUNTRYNAME('FR')

France
1rowselected.
YoucanalsoexecutetheprocedureusingtheOracleDeveloperToolsforVisualStudio.NET.Todothis,expandtheHRconnection,expandthe
Functionsnode,selecttheGETCOUNTRYNAMEfunction,rightclick,andselectRun:

ThiswillproducetheRunFunctiondialog:

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EnterFRandclickontheOKbutton.ThiswillproducethefollowingresultwindowintheVisualStudio.NET2003IDE:

Debugginga.NETStoredProcedure
InordertodebugthedeployedstoredprocedurefromwithintheVisualStudio.NET2003IDE,youneedtocopytheProgramDebugDatabase
filetothedirectorywheretheDLLwasdeployed.CopytheMyStoredProcedure.pdbfiletothe%ORACLE_HOME%\bin\clrdirectory:
C:\>dirc:\oracle\10.2\database\bin\clr
VolumeindriveCisLocalDisk
VolumeSerialNumberis94FF538C
Directoryofc:\oracle\10.2\database\bin\clr
09/10/200507:32PM<DIR>.
09/10/200507:32PM<DIR>..
09/10/200507:18PM16,384MyStoredProcedure.dll
09/10/200506:44PM11,776MyStoredProcedure.pdb
2File(s)28,160bytes
2Dir(s)26,681,720,832bytesfree
ThedirectorynowcontainsboththeDLLandthe.pdbfile.
BecausetheDLLfileisloadedbytheextproc.exeprocess,youmustattachtothatprocessinVisualStudio.NET2003inordertodebugit.
Sinceyouexecutedthestoredprocedureinthepreviousstep,theextproc.exeprocessshouldberunning.However,ifyouhavenotexecuted
theprocedure,theprocesswillnotberunning.Forthisreason,youshouldexecutetheprocedureeitherthroughSQL*PlusortheOracle
DeveloperToolsforVisualStudio.NETpriortoattemptingtodebugthecode.
Todebugtheprocedure,setabreakpointinthesourcecodeasillustratedhere:

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Next,selectToolsDebugProcessesfromtheVisualStudio.NET2003menubar.ThiswillproducetheProcessdialog.Scrolldownthelistof
AvailableProcessesandselectextproc.exe:

ClickontheAttachbuttontoattachtotheextproc.exeprocess.ThisproducestheAttachtoProcessdialog:

Becausetheprocedureyoudevelopedisa.NETprocedure,ensurethattheCommonLanguageRuntimecheckboxisselectedanddeselect
anyothercheckboxes.ClickontheOKbuttontoclosethe"AttachtoProcess"dialogandreturntothe"Processes"dialog.ClickontheClose
buttoninthe"Process"dialogtobeginthedebuggingprocess.
Inordertoinitiatetheprocessandfirethebreakpointyoumustinvoketheprocedure.IntheOracleQueryWindowinVisualStudioorfrom
SQL*Plussessioncalltheprocedureasfollows:

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SQL>selectGetCountryName('FR')fromdual;
Note:DonotusetheOracleExplorer"Run"menuitemtofireoffthe.NETprocedureifthebreakpointforthatprocedureissetinsidethatsame
instanceofVisualStudio.ThiswillhangVisualStudioduetodeadlock.
ThiscallwillinvoketheprocedureandSQL*Pluswillappeartohang.However,theprocedureshouldbestoppedatthebreakpointinVisual
Studio.NET2003:

Younowdebugtheprocedureasyouwouldnormallywithstandalonecode.
Thereisanimportantdifferencebetweendebuggingwithanattachedprocessversusdebuggingwithstandalonecode.Becausethe
extproc.exeprocessisexternaltothedevelopmentenvironment,theprocesscanterminateorbekilledwithoutthedebuggingenvironment
detectingthissituation.Inthiscase,youwillseeanerrorsuchasthis:
SQL>selectGetCountryName('FR')fromdual
*
ERRORatline1:
ORA28576:lostRPCconnectiontoexternalprocedureagent
ORA06512:atSYS.DBMS_CLR,line234
ORA06512:atHR.GETCOUNTRYNAME,line7
Ifyouencounterthiserror,reexecutingthecalltothestoredproceduretypicallyrestartstheextproc.exeprocess.Othertroubleshootingtips
includeclosingandreconnectingtheconnectionofthecalleraswellaskillingtheextproc.exeandrestartingtheCLRservice(toforce
extproc.exetogetrespawned).
Conclusion
Inthisintroductorylookat.NETstoredproceduresupportinOracleDatabase10gRelease2forWindows,youhavelearnedhow.NETstored
proceduresaresupported,howtoconfiguretheOraclenetworkingcomponents,howtodevelopanddeploya.NETstoredprocedure,andhow
todebugadeployedprocedure.Younowshouldbereadytobegintodevelopanddeploy.NETstoredproceduresinyourenvironment.

MarkA.Williams[mawilliams@cheshamdbs.com]istheauthoroftheODP.NETcolumninOracleMagazine,anOracleACE,anOracleCertified
ProfessionalDBA,andtheauthorofPro.NETOracleProgramming(Apress,2004).WilliamsfocusesonsolutionsforOracleonWindowsand
contributestotheOracleDataProviderfor.NETforumsontheOracleTechnologyNetwork.
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