Contents Listing

Preface



1. PL/SQL: What, When, and Where

What Is PL/SQL?

Why Use PL/SQL?

What You Need to Get Started with PL/SQL



2. Fundamentals

PL/Lingo

Running Your First PL/SQL Program

Introduction to Program Structure

Variables

Common Operators

Conditional Logic

Executing in Circles: Loop Statements

Code Formatting: Requirements and Guidelines

Some Advanced Fundamentals



3. Let's Code!

Some Background on the Example

A First Programming Exercise

Retrieving a Book Count with a Function

Make Your Code Resilient

Using PL/SQL Packages to Organize Code

Going to the Next Level

Now What?



4. Go Web, Young Man

Introduction to HTML

Using PL/SQL to Create Web Pages

What Else?



5. Fetch!

What's the Big Deal?

A Simple-Minded Approach to Retrieving One Row

Retrieving More than One Row Using a Cursor

Presenting Query Results via a Web Page

Building a Web-Based Search Page Using Dynamic SQL

Advanced Data Retrieval Topics



6. Keeping House

Organize Your Code

Use Tools to Write Code Effectively



7. Security: Keep the Bad Guys Out

Oracle Security Primer

Organizing Accounts to Improve Security

Analyzing the Library System's Requirements

Keeping a Trail of Database Changes

Special Security Topics for PL/SQL Developers



8. Communicating with the Outside World

Sending Internet Email from PL/SQL

Using the Mail Sender in the Library System

Receiving Email Inside the Database

Fetching Data from a Remote Web Site

Integration with Other Languages



9. Intermediate Topics and Other Diversions

Riding the Software Lifecycle

Lists o' Stuff (Collections) in PL/SQL

Exception-Handling Packages

Transaction Control

The PL/SQL Compiler

Managing Patron and Librarian Privileges

Still More PL/SQL Features



Making Good of Database Programming

The Evidence

The Problem

Answering the Objections

What to Do



Glossary



Index