What Are Subprograms?

The Subprograms are named PL/SQL blocks which can take parameters and be invoked. The PL/SQL has 2 types of subprograms known as the procedures and functions. Normally, you use a procedure to perform an action and a function to calculate a value. Similar to unnamed or anonymous PL/SQL blocks, the subprograms have a declarative section, an executable part, and an optional exception-handling part. The declarative part contains the declarations of types, constants, cursors, variables, exceptions, & nested subprograms. These items are cease to exist and local whenever you exit the subprogram. The executable section contains statements which assign control execution, values, and manipulate Oracle data. The exception-handling section contains exception handlers that deal with the exceptions raised during the execution.

Consider the procedure below named debit_account that debits a bank account:

PROCEDURE debit_account (acct_id INTEGER, amount REAL) IS

old_balance REAL;

new_balance REAL;

overdrawn EXCEPTION;

BEGIN

SELECT bal INTO old_balance FROM accts

WHERE acct_no = acct_id;

new_balance := old_balance - amount;

IF new_balance < 0 THEN

RAISE overdrawn;

ELSE

UPDATE accts SET bal = new_balance

WHERE acct_no = acct_id;

END IF;

EXCEPTION

WHEN overdrawn THEN

...

END debit_account;

When called or invoked, this procedures accept an account number and a debit sum. It uses the account number to select the account balance from the accounts database table. Then, it uses the debit quantity to calculate a new balance. If the new balance is less than 0, an exception is raised; or else, the bank account is updated.