DBMS_UTILITY v15

The DBMS_UTILITY package provides support for the following utility programs. EDB Postgres Advanced Server's implementation of DBMS_UTILITY is a partial implementation when compared to Oracle's version. Only the functions and procedures listed in the table are supported.

The following table lists the public variables available in the DBMS_UTILITY package.

LNAME_ARRAY

The LNAME_ARRAY is for storing lists of long names including fully qualified names.

TYPE lname_array IS TABLE OF VARCHAR2(4000) INDEX BY BINARY_INTEGER;

UNCL_ARRAY

The UNCL_ARRAY is for storing lists of users and names.

TYPE uncl_array IS TABLE OF VARCHAR2(227) INDEX BY BINARY_INTEGER;

ANALYZE_DATABASE, ANALYZE SCHEMA and ANALYZE PART_OBJECT

The ANALYZE_DATABASE(), ANALYZE_SCHEMA() and ANALYZE_PART_OBJECT() procedures gather statistics on tables in the database. When you execute the ANALYZE statement, Postgres samples the data in a table and records distribution statistics in the pg_statistics system table.

ANALYZE_DATABASE, ANALYZE_SCHEMA, and ANALYZE_PART_OBJECT differ primarily in the number of tables that are processed:

• ANALYZE_DATABASE analyzes all tables in all schemas in the current database.
• ANALYZE_SCHEMA analyzes all tables in a given schema (in the current database).
• ANALYZE_PART_OBJECT analyzes a single table.

The syntax for the ANALYZE commands are:

ANALYZE_DATABASE(<method> VARCHAR2 [, <estimate_rows> NUMBER
  [, <estimate_percent> NUMBER [, <method_opt> VARCHAR2 ]]])

ANALYZE_SCHEMA(<schema> VARCHAR2, <method> VARCHAR2
  [, <estimate_rows> NUMBER [, <estimate_percent> NUMBER
  [, <method_opt> VARCHAR2 ]]])

ANALYZE_PART_OBJECT(<schema> VARCHAR2, <object_name> VARCHAR2
  [, <object_type> CHAR [, <command_type> CHAR
  [, <command_opt> VARCHAR2 [, <sample_clause> ]]]])

Parameters for ANALYZE_DATABASE and ANALYZE_SCHEMA

method

Determines whether the ANALYZE procedure populates the pg_statistics table or removes entries from the pg_statistics table. If you specify a method of DELETE, the ANALYZE procedure removes the relevant rows from pg_statistics. If you specify a method of COMPUTE or ESTIMATE, the ANALYZE procedure analyzes a table (or multiple tables) and records the distribution information in pg_statistics. There's no difference between COMPUTE and ESTIMATE. Both methods execute the Postgres ANALYZE statement. All other parameters are validated and then ignored.

estimate_rows

Number of rows upon which to base estimated statistics. One of estimate_rows or estimate_percent must be specified if the method is ESTIMATE.

This argument is ignored but is included for compatibility.

estimate_percent

Percentage of rows upon which to base estimated statistics. One of estimate_rows or estimate_percent must be specified if the method is ESTIMATE.

This argument is ignored but is included for compatibility.

method_opt

Object types to analyze. Any combination of the following:

[ FOR TABLE ]

[ FOR ALL [ INDEXED ] COLUMNS ] [ SIZE n ]

[ FOR ALL INDEXES ]

This argument is ignored but is included for compatibility.

Parameters for ANALYZE_PART_OBJECT

schema

Name of the schema whose objects to analyze.

object_name

Name of the partitioned object to analyze.

object_type

Type of object to analyze. Valid values are: T – table, I – index.

This argument is ignored but is included for compatibility.

command_type

Type of analyze functionality to perform. Valid values are:

• E — Gather estimated statistics based on a specified number of rows or a percentage of rows in the sample_clause clause.

• C — Compute exact statistics.

• V — Validate the structure and integrity of the partitions.

  This argument is ignored but is included for compatibility.

command_opt

For command_type C or E, can be any combination of:

[ FOR TABLE ]

[ FOR ALL COLUMNS ]

[ FOR ALL LOCAL INDEXES ]

For command_type V, can be CASCADE if object_type is T.

This argument is ignored but is included for compatibility.

sample_clause

If command_type is E, contains the following clause to specify the number of rows or percentage of rows on which to base the estimate.

SAMPLE n { ROWS | PERCENT }

This argument is ignored but is included for compatibility.

CANONICALIZE

The CANONICALIZE procedure performs the following operations on an input string:

• If the string isn't double quoted, verifies that it uses the characters of a legal identifier. If not, an exception is thrown. If the string is double quoted, all characters are allowed.
• If the string isn't double quoted and doesn't contain periods, uppercases all alphabetic characters and eliminates leading and trailing spaces.
• If the string is double quoted and doesn't contain periods, strips off the double quotes.
• If the string contains periods and no portion of the string is double quoted, uppercases each portion of the string and encloses each portion in double quotes.
• If the string contains periods and portions of the string are double quoted, returns:
  • The double-quoted portions unchanged, including the double quotes
  • The non-double-quoted portions uppercased and enclosed in double quotes.

CANONICALIZE(<name> VARCHAR2, <canon_name> OUT VARCHAR2,
  <canon_len> BINARY_INTEGER)

Parameters

name

String to canonicalize.

canon_name

The canonicalized string.

canon_len

Number of bytes in name to canonicalize starting from the first character.

Examples

This procedure applies the CANONICALIZE procedure on its input parameter and displays the results.

CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE canonicalize (
    p_name      VARCHAR2,
    p_length    BINARY_INTEGER DEFAULT 30
)
IS
    v_canon     VARCHAR2(100);
BEGIN
    DBMS_UTILITY.CANONICALIZE(p_name,v_canon,p_length);
    DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Canonicalized name ==>' || v_canon || '<==');
    DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Length: ' || LENGTH(v_canon));
EXCEPTION
    WHEN OTHERS THEN
        DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('SQLERRM: ' || SQLERRM);
        DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('SQLCODE: ' || SQLCODE);
END;

EXEC canonicalize('Identifier')
Canonicalized name ==>IDENTIFIER<==
Length: 10

EXEC canonicalize('"Identifier"')
Canonicalized name ==>Identifier<==
Length: 10

EXEC canonicalize('"_+142%"')
Canonicalized name ==>_+142%<==
Length: 6

EXEC canonicalize('abc.def.ghi')
Canonicalized name ==>"ABC"."DEF"."GHI"<==
Length: 17

EXEC canonicalize('"abc.def.ghi"')
Canonicalized name ==>abc.def.ghi<==
Length: 11

EXEC canonicalize('"abc".def."ghi"')
Canonicalized name ==>"abc"."DEF"."ghi"<==
Length: 17

EXEC canonicalize('"abc.def".ghi')
Canonicalized name ==>"abc.def"."GHI"<==
Length: 15

COMMA_TO_TABLE

The COMMA_TO_TABLE procedure converts a comma-delimited list of names into a table of names. Each entry in the list becomes a table entry. Format the names as valid identifiers.

COMMA_TO_TABLE(<list> VARCHAR2, <tablen> OUT BINARY_INTEGER,
  <tab> OUT { LNAME_ARRAY | UNCL_ARRAY })

Parameters

list

Comma-delimited list of names.

tablen

Number of entries in tab.

tab

Table containing the individual names in list.

LNAME_ARRAY

A DBMS_UTILITY LNAME_ARRAY, as described in LNAME_ARRAY.

UNCL_ARRAY

A DBMS_UTILITY UNCL_ARRAY, as described in UNCL_ARRAY.

Examples

This procedure uses the COMMA_TO_TABLE procedure to convert a list of names to a table. It then displays the table entries.

CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE comma_to_table (
    p_list      VARCHAR2
)
IS
    r_lname     DBMS_UTILITY.LNAME_ARRAY;
    v_length    BINARY_INTEGER;
BEGIN
    DBMS_UTILITY.COMMA_TO_TABLE(p_list,v_length,r_lname);
    FOR i IN 1..v_length LOOP
        DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(r_lname(i));
    END LOOP;
END;

EXEC comma_to_table('edb.dept, edb.emp, edb.jobhist')

edb.dept
edb.emp
edb.jobhist

DB_VERSION

The DB_VERSION procedure returns the version number of the database.

DB_VERSION(<version> OUT VARCHAR2, <compatibility> OUT VARCHAR2)

Parameters

version

Database version number.

compatibility

Compatibility setting of the database (to be implementation-defined as to its meaning).

Examples

The following anonymous block displays the database version information.

DECLARE
    v_version       VARCHAR2(150);
    v_compat        VARCHAR2(150);
BEGIN
    DBMS_UTILITY.DB_VERSION(v_version,v_compat);
    DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Version: '       || v_version);
    DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Compatibility: ' || v_compat);
END;

Version: PostgreSQL 15.2 (EnterpriseDB Advanced Server 15.2.0 (Debian 15.2.0-1.bullseye)) on x86_64-pc-linux-gnu, 
compiled by gcc (Debian 10.2.1-6) 10.2.1 20210110, 64-bit
Compatibility: PostgreSQL 15.2 (EnterpriseDB Advanced Server 15.2.0 (Debian 15.2.0-1.bullseye)) on x86_64-pc-linux-gnu, 
compiled by gcc (Debian 10.2.1-6) 10.2.1 20210110, 64-bit

EXEC_DDL_STATEMENT

EXEC_DDL_STATEMENT executes a DDL command.

EXEC_DDL_STATEMENT(<parse_string> VARCHAR2)

Parameters

parse_string

The DDL command to execute.

Examples

The following anonymous block creates the job table.

BEGIN
    DBMS_UTILITY.EXEC_DDL_STATEMENT(
        'CREATE TABLE job (' ||
          'jobno NUMBER(3),' ||
          'jname VARCHAR2(9))'
    );
END;

If the parse_string doesn't include a valid DDL statement, EDB Postgres Advanced Server returns an error:

edb=#  exec dbms_utility.exec_ddl_statement('select rownum from dual');
ERROR:  EDB-20001: 'parse_string' must be a valid DDL statement

In this case, EDB Postgres Advanced Server's behavior differs from Oracle's. Oracle accepts the invalid parse_string without complaint.

FORMAT_CALL_STACK

The FORMAT_CALL_STACK function returns the formatted contents of the current call stack.

DBMS_UTILITY.FORMAT_CALL_STACK
return VARCHAR2

You can use this function in a stored procedure, function, or package to return the current call stack in a readable format. This function is useful for debugging.

FORMAT_ERROR_BACKTRACE

The FORMAT_ERROR_BACKTRACE function returns the current error call stack, that is, function name and lines that lead up to the exception.

DBMS_UTILITY.FORMAT_ERROR_BACKTRACE
return VARCHAR2

You can use this function in a stored procedure, function, or package to return the current error call backtrace in a readable format. This function is useful for debugging.

FORMAT_ERROR_STACK

The FORMAT_ERROR_STACK function returns the current exception name.

DBMS_UTILITY.FORMAT_ERROR_STACK
return VARCHAR2

You can use this function in a stored procedure, function, or package to return the current exception name. This function is useful for debugging.

GET_CPU_TIME

The GET_CPU_TIME function returns the CPU time in hundredths of a second from some arbitrary point in time.

<cputime> NUMBER GET_CPU_TIME

Parameters

cputime

Number of hundredths of a second of CPU time.

Examples

This SELECT command retrieves the current CPU time, which is 603 hundredths of a second or .0603 seconds.

SELECT DBMS_UTILITY.GET_CPU_TIME FROM DUAL;

get_cpu_time
--------------
        603

GET_DEPENDENCY

The GET_DEPENDENCY procedure lists the objects that depend on the specified object. GET_DEPENDENCY doesn't show dependencies for functions or procedures.

GET_DEPENDENCY(<type> VARCHAR2, <schema> VARCHAR2,
  <name> VARCHAR2)

Parameters

type

The object type of name. Valid values are INDEX, PACKAGE, PACKAGE BODY, SEQUENCE, TABLE, TRIGGER, TYPE, and VIEW.

schema

Name of the schema in which name exists.

name

Name of the object for which to obtain dependencies.

Examples

The following anonymous block finds dependencies on the EMP table:

BEGIN
    DBMS_UTILITY.GET_DEPENDENCY('TABLE','public','EMP');
END;

DEPENDENCIES ON public.EMP
------------------------------------------------------------------
*TABLE public.EMP()
*   CONSTRAINT c public.emp()
*   CONSTRAINT f public.emp()
*   CONSTRAINT p public.emp()
*   TYPE public.emp()
*   CONSTRAINT c public.emp()
*   CONSTRAINT f public.jobhist()
*   VIEW .empname_view()

GET_HASH_VALUE

The GET_HASH_VALUE function computes a hash value for a given string.

<hash> NUMBER GET_HASH_VALUE(<name> VARCHAR2, <base> NUMBER,
   <hash_size> NUMBER)

Parameters

name

The string for which to compute a hash value.

base

Starting value at which to generate hash values.

hash_size

The number of hash values for the desired hash table.

hash

The generated hash value.

Examples

The following anonymous block creates a table of hash values using the ename column of the emp table and then displays the key along with the hash value. The hash values start at 100 with a maximum of 1024 distinct values.

DECLARE
    v_hash          NUMBER;
    TYPE hash_tab IS TABLE OF NUMBER INDEX BY VARCHAR2(10);
    r_hash          HASH_TAB;
    CURSOR emp_cur IS SELECT ename FROM emp;
BEGIN
    FOR r_emp IN emp_cur LOOP
        r_hash(r_emp.ename) :=
            DBMS_UTILITY.GET_HASH_VALUE(r_emp.ename,100,1024);
    END LOOP;
    FOR r_emp IN emp_cur LOOP
        DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(RPAD(r_emp.ename,10) || ' ' ||
            r_hash(r_emp.ename));
    END LOOP;
END;

SMITH      377
ALLEN      740
WARD       718
JONES      131
MARTIN     176
BLAKE      568
CLARK      621
SCOTT      1097
KING       235
TURNER     850
ADAMS      156
JAMES      942
FORD       775
MILLER     148

GET_PARAMETER_VALUE

The GET_PARAMETER_VALUE procedure retrieves database initialization parameter settings.

<status> BINARY_INTEGER GET_PARAMETER_VALUE(<parnam> VARCHAR2,
   <intval> OUT INTEGER, <strval> OUT VARCHAR2)

Parameters

parnam

Name of the parameter whose value to return. The parameters are listed in the pg_settings system view.

intval

Value of an integer parameter or the length of strval.

strval

Value of a string parameter.

status

Returns 0 if the parameter value is INTEGER or BOOLEAN. Returns 1 if the parameter value is a string.

Examples

The following anonymous block shows the values of two initialization parameters.

DECLARE
    v_intval        INTEGER;
    v_strval        VARCHAR2(80);
BEGIN
    DBMS_UTILITY.GET_PARAMETER_VALUE('max_fsm_pages', v_intval, v_strval);
    DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('max_fsm_pages' || ': ' || v_intval);
    DBMS_UTILITY.GET_PARAMETER_VALUE('client_encoding', v_intval, v_strval);
    DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('client_encoding' || ': ' || v_strval);
END;

max_fsm_pages: 72625
client_encoding: SQL_ASCII

GET_TIME

The GET_TIME function returns the current time in hundredths of a second.

<time> NUMBER GET_TIME

Parameters

time

Number of hundredths of a second from the time when the program started.

Examples

This example shows calls to the GET_TIME function.

SELECT DBMS_UTILITY.GET_TIME FROM DUAL;

get_time
----------
  1555860

SELECT DBMS_UTILITY.GET_TIME FROM DUAL;

get_time
----------
  1556037

NAME_TOKENIZE

The NAME_TOKENIZE procedure parses a name into its component parts. Names without double quotes are uppercased. The double quotes are stripped from names with double quotes.

NAME_TOKENIZE(<name> VARCHAR2, <a> OUT VARCHAR2,
  <b> OUT VARCHAR2, <c> OUT VARCHAR2, <dblink> OUT VARCHAR2,
  <nextpos> OUT BINARY_INTEGER)

Parameters

name

String containing a name in the following format:

a[.b[.c]][@dblink ]

a

Returns the leftmost component.

b

Returns the second component, if any.

c

Returns the third component, if any.

dblink

Returns the database link name.

nextpos

Position of the last character parsed in name.

Examples

This stored procedure displays the returned parameter values of the NAME_TOKENIZE procedure for various names.

CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE name_tokenize (
    p_name          VARCHAR2
)
IS
    v_a             VARCHAR2(30);
    v_b             VARCHAR2(30);
    v_c             VARCHAR2(30);
    v_dblink        VARCHAR2(30);
    v_nextpos       BINARY_INTEGER;
BEGIN
    DBMS_UTILITY.NAME_TOKENIZE(p_name,v_a,v_b,v_c,v_dblink,v_nextpos);
    DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('name   : ' || p_name);
    DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('a      : ' || v_a);
    DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('b      : ' || v_b);
    DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('c      : ' || v_c);
    DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('dblink : ' || v_dblink);
    DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('nextpos: ' || v_nextpos);
END;

Tokenize the name, emp:

BEGIN
    name_tokenize('emp');
END;

name   : emp
a      : EMP
b      :
c      :
dblink :
nextpos: 3

Tokenize the name, edb.list_emp:

BEGIN
    name_tokenize('edb.list_emp');
END;

name   : edb.list_emp
a      : EDB
b      : LIST_EMP
c      :
dblink :
nextpos: 12

Tokenize the name, "edb"."Emp_Admin".update_emp_sal:

BEGIN
    name_tokenize('"edb"."Emp_Admin".update_emp_sal');
END;

name   : "edb"."Emp_Admin".update_emp_sal
a      : edb
b      : Emp_Admin
c      : UPDATE_EMP_SAL
dblink :
nextpos: 32

Tokenize the name edb.emp@edb_dblink:

BEGIN
    name_tokenize('edb.emp@edb_dblink');
END;

name   : edb.emp@edb_dblink
a      : EDB
b      : EMP
c      :
dblink : EDB_DBLINK
nextpos: 18

TABLE_TO_COMMA

The TABLE_TO_COMMA procedure converts table of names into a comma-delimited list of names. Each table entry becomes a list entry. Format the names as valid identifiers.

TABLE_TO_COMMA(<tab> { LNAME_ARRAY | UNCL_ARRAY },
  <tablen> OUT BINARY_INTEGER, <list> OUT VARCHAR2)

Parameters

tab

Table containing names.

LNAME_ARRAY

A DBMS_UTILITY LNAME_ARRAY, as described in LNAME ARRAY.

UNCL_ARRAY

A DBMS_UTILITY UNCL_ARRAY, as described UNCL_ARRAY.

tablen

Number of entries in list.

list

Comma-delimited list of names from tab.

Examples

This example first uses the COMMA_TO_TABLE procedure to convert a comma-delimited list to a table. The TABLE_TO_COMMA procedure then converts the table back to a comma-delimited list that it displays.

CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE table_to_comma (
    p_list      VARCHAR2
)
IS
    r_lname     DBMS_UTILITY.LNAME_ARRAY;
    v_length    BINARY_INTEGER;
    v_listlen   BINARY_INTEGER;
    v_list      VARCHAR2(80);
BEGIN
    DBMS_UTILITY.COMMA_TO_TABLE(p_list,v_length,r_lname);
    DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Table Entries');
    DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('-------------');
    FOR i IN 1..v_length LOOP
        DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(r_lname(i));
    END LOOP;
    DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('-------------');
    DBMS_UTILITY.TABLE_TO_COMMA(r_lname,v_listlen,v_list);
    DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Comma-Delimited List: ' || v_list);
END;

EXEC table_to_comma('edb.dept, edb.emp, edb.jobhist')

Table Entries
-------------
edb.dept
edb.emp
edb.jobhist
-------------
Comma-Delimited List: edb.dept, edb.emp, edb.jobhist

• On this page
• LNAME_ARRAY
• UNCL_ARRAY
• ANALYZE_DATABASE, ANALYZE SCHEMA and ANALYZE PART_OBJECT
• CANONICALIZE
• COMMA_TO_TABLE
• DB_VERSION
• EXEC_DDL_STATEMENT
• FORMAT_CALL_STACK
• FORMAT_ERROR_BACKTRACE
• FORMAT_ERROR_STACK
• GET_CPU_TIME
• GET_DEPENDENCY
• GET_HASH_VALUE
• GET_PARAMETER_VALUE
• GET_TIME
• NAME_TOKENIZE
• TABLE_TO_COMMA