SELECT INTO Statement

The SELECT INTO statement retrieves values from one or more database tables (as the SQL SELECT statement does) and stores them in variables (which the SQL SELECT statement does not do).

Topics

• Syntax

• Semantics

• Examples

• Related Topics

Syntax

select_into_statement ::=

See:

• "bulk_collect_into_clause ::="

• "into_clause ::="

• "table_reference ::="

select_item ::=

See "function_call ::=".

table_reference ::=

Semantics

select_into_statement

DISTINCT or UNIQUE

Causes the database to return only one copy of each set of duplicate rows selected. Duplicate rows are those with matching values for each select_item. These two keywords are synonymous.

Restrictions on DISTINCT and UNIQUE 

• The total number of bytes in all select_item expressions is limited to the size of a data block minus some overhead. This size is specified by the initialization parameter DB_BLOCK_SIZE.

• No select_item expression can contain a LOB column.

ALL

(Default) Causes the database to return all rows selected, including all copies of duplicates.

*

Selects all columns.

into_clause

With this clause, the SELECT INTO statement retrieves one or more columns from a single row and stores them in either one or more scalar variables or one record variable. For more information, see "into_clause".

bulk_collect_into_clause

With this clause, the SELECT INTO statement retrieves an entire result set and stores it in one or more collection variables. For more information, see "bulk_collect_into_clause".

subquery

SQL SELECT statement (not a PL/SQL SELECT INTO statement).

alias

Another (usually short) name for the referenced column, table, or view.

rest_of_statement

Anything that can follow the FROM clause in a SQL SELECT statement, described in Oracle Database SQL Language Reference.

select_item

If the SELECT INTO statement returns no rows, PL/SQL raises the predefined exception NO_DATA_FOUND. To guard against this exception, select the result of the aggregate function COUNT(*), which returns a single value even if no rows match the condition.

numeric_literal

Literal of a numeric data type.

schema

Name of the schema that contains the table or view. Default: your schema.

db_table_or_view

Name of a database table or view.

column

Name of a column of db_table_or_view.

*

Selects all columns of db_table_or_view.

sequence

Name of a sequence.

CURRVAL

Current value in sequence.

NEXTVAL

Next value in sequence.

alias

Another (usually short) name for the referenced column, table, or view.

table_reference

Reference to a table or view for which you have the SELECT privilege, which is accessible when you run the SELECT INTO statement.

schema

Name of the schema that contains the table or view. Default: your schema.

table

Name of a database table.

view

Name of a database view.

PARTITION partition or SUBPARTITION subpartition

See Oracle Database SQL Language Reference.

@dblink

Database link, described in Oracle Database SQL Language Reference. Do not put space between @ and dblink.

Examples

• Example 2-25, "Assigning Value to Variable with SELECT INTO Statement"

• Example 5-45, "SELECT INTO Assigns Values to Record Variable"

• Example 6-36, "ROLLBACK Statement"

• Example 6-37, "SAVEPOINT and ROLLBACK Statements"

• Example 6-44, "Declaring Autonomous Function in Package"

• Example 7-13, "Validation Checks Guarding Against SQL Injection"

• Example 12-16, "Bulk-Selecting Two Database Columns into Two Nested Tables"

• Example 12-17, "Bulk-Selecting into Nested Table of Records"

• Example 12-21, "Limiting Bulk Selection with ROWNUM and SAMPLE"

Related Topics

In this chapter:

• "Assignment Statement"

• "FETCH Statement"

• "%ROWTYPE Attribute"

In other chapters:

• "Assigning Values to Variables with the SELECT INTO Statement"

• "SELECT INTO Statement for Assigning Row to Record Variable"

• "Query Result Set Processing With SELECT INTO Statements"

• "SELECT INTO Statement with BULK COLLECT Clause"