15 DDL and DML Statements with LOBs

This chapter contains these topics:

See Also:

For guidelines on how to INSERT into a LOB when binds of more than 4000 bytes are involved, see the following sections in "Binds of All Sizes in INSERT and UPDATE Operations".

Creating a Table Containing One or More LOB Columns

This section describes how to create a table containing one or more LOB columns.

When you use functions, EMPTY_BLOB() and EMPTY_CLOB(), the resulting LOB is initialized, but not populated with data. Also note that LOBs that are empty are not NULL.

See Also:

Oracle Database SQL Language Reference for a complete specification of syntax for using LOBs in CREATE TABLE and ALTER TABLE with:

  • BLOB, CLOB, NCLOB and BFILE columns

  • EMPTY_BLOB and EMPTY_CLOB functions

  • LOB storage clause for persistent LOB columns, and LOB attributes of embedded objects

Scenario

These examples use the following Sample Schemas:

  • Human Resources (HR)

  • Order Entry (OE)

  • Product Media (PM)

Note that the HR and OE schemas must exist before the PM schema is created. For details on these schemas, refer to Oracle Database Sample Schemas.

Note:

Because you can use SQL DDL directly to create a table containing one or more LOB columns, it is not necessary to use the DBMS_LOB package.
/*  Setup script for creating Print_media, 
    Online_media and associated structures 
*/

DROP USER pm CASCADE;
DROP DIRECTORY ADPHOTO_DIR;
DROP DIRECTORY ADCOMPOSITE_DIR;
DROP DIRECTORY ADGRAPHIC_DIR;
DROP INDEX onlinemedia CASCADE CONSTRAINTS;
DROP INDEX printmedia CASCADE CONSTRAINTS;
DROP TABLE online_media CASCADE CONSTRAINTS;
DROP TABLE print_media CASCADE CONSTRAINTS;
DROP TYPE textdoc_typ;
DROP TYPE textdoc_tab;
DROP TYPE adheader_typ;
DROP TABLE adheader_typ;
CREATE USER pm;
GRANT CONNECT, RESOURCE to pm;

CREATE DIRECTORY ADPHOTO_DIR AS '/tmp/';
CREATE DIRECTORY ADCOMPOSITE_DIR AS '/tmp/';
CREATE DIRECTORY ADGRAPHIC_DIR AS '/tmp/';
CREATE DIRECTORY media_dir AS '/tmp/';
GRANT READ ON DIRECTORY ADPHOTO_DIR to pm;
GRANT READ ON DIRECTORY ADCOMPOSITE_DIR to pm;
GRANT READ ON DIRECTORY ADGRAPHIC_DIR to pm;
GRANT READ ON DIRECTORY media_dir to pm;

CONNECT pm/password  (or &pass);
COMMIT;

CREATE TABLE a_table (blob_col BLOB); 

CREATE TYPE adheader_typ AS OBJECT ( 
   header_name    VARCHAR2(256),  
   creation_date  DATE,  
   header_text    VARCHAR(1024), 
   logo           BLOB );

CREATE TYPE textdoc_typ AS OBJECT ( 
   document_typ   VARCHAR2(32), 
   formatted_doc  BLOB);

CREATE TYPE Textdoc_ntab AS TABLE of textdoc_typ;

CREATE TABLE adheader_tab of adheader_typ (
Ad_finaltext DEFAULT EMPTY_CLOB(), CONSTRAINT 
Take CHECK (Take IS NOT NULL),  DEFAULT NULL);

CREATE TABLE online_media
( product_id  NUMBER(6),
product_photo ORDSYS.ORDImage,
product_photo_signature ORDSYS.ORDImageSignature,
product_thumbnail ORDSYS.ORDImage, 
product_video ORDSYS.ORDVideo,
product_audio ORDSYS.ORDAudio, 
product_text CLOB,
product_testimonials ORDSYS.ORDDoc);

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX onlinemedia_pk
  ON online_media (product_id);
  
ALTER TABLE online_media
ADD (CONSTRAINT onlinemedia_pk
PRIMARY KEY (product_id), CONSTRAINT loc_c_id_fk
FOREIGN KEY (product_id)  REFERENCES oe.product_information(product_id)
);

CREATE TABLE print_media
(product_id NUMBER(6), 
ad_id NUMBER(6),
ad_composite BLOB,
ad_sourcetext CLOB, 
ad_finaltext CLOB,
ad_fktextn NCLOB,
ad_testdocs_ntab textdoc_tab,
ad_photo BLOB, 
ad_graphic BFILE,
ad_header adheader_typ,
press_release LONG) NESTED TABLE ad_textdocs_ntab STORE AS textdocs_nestedtab;

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX printmedia_pk
  ON print_media (product_id, ad_id);

ALTER TABLE print_media
ADD (CONSTRAINT printmedia_pk
PRIMARY KEY (product_id, ad_id), 
CONSTRAINT printmedia_fk FOREIGN KEY (product_id) 
REFERENCES oe.product_information(product_id)
);

Creating a Nested Table Containing a LOB

This section describes how to create a nested table containing a LOB.

You must create the object type that contains the LOB attributes before you create a nested table based on that object type. In the example that follows, table Print_media contains nested table ad_textdoc_ntab that has type textdoc_tab. This type uses two LOB data types:

  • BFILE - an advertisement graphic

  • CLOB - an advertisement transcript

The actual embedding of the nested table is accomplished when the structure of the containing table is defined. In our example, this is effected by the NESTED TABLE statement when the Print_media table is created as shown in the following example:

/* Create type textdoc_typ as the base type 
   for the nested table textdoc_ntab, 
   where textdoc_ntab contains a LOB: 
*/
CREATE TYPE textdoc_typ AS OBJECT
( 
   document_typ    VARCHAR2(32),  
   formatted_doc   BLOB 
);
/

/* The type has been created. Now you need a */
/* nested table of that type to embed in */
/* table Print_media, so: */
CREATE TYPE textdoc_ntab AS TABLE of textdoc_typ; 
/

CREATE TABLE textdoc_ntable ( 
   id NUMBER, 
   ntab_col textdoc_ntab) 
NESTED TABLE ntab_col STORE AS textdoc_nestedtab;

DROP TYPE textdoc_typ force;
DROP TYPE textdoc_ntab;
DROP TABLE textdoc_ntable;

See Also:

Inserting a Row by Selecting a LOB From Another Table

This section describes how to insert a row containing a LOB as SELECT.

Note:

Persistent LOB types BLOB, CLOB, and NCLOB, use copy semantics, as opposed to reference semantics that apply to BFILEs. When a BLOB, CLOB, or NCLOB is copied from one row to another in the same table or a different table, the actual LOB value is copied, not just the LOB locator.

For LOBs, one of the advantages of using an object-relational approach is that you can define a type as a common template for related tables. For instance, it makes sense that both the tables that store archival material and working tables that use those libraries, share a common structure.

For example, assuming Print_media and Online_media have identical schemas. The statement creates a new LOB locator in table Print_media. It also copies the LOB data from Online_media to the location pointed to by the new LOB locator inserted in table Print_media.

The following code fragment is based on the fact that the table Online_media is of the same type as Print_media referenced by the ad_textdocs_ntab column of table Print_media. It inserts values into the library table, and then inserts this same data into Print_media by means of a SELECT.

/* Store records in the archive table Online_media: */
INSERT INTO Online_media  
   VALUES (3060, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, 
           'some text about this CRT Monitor', NULL);

/* Insert values into Print_media by selecting from Online_media: */
INSERT INTO Print_media (product_id, ad_id, ad_sourcetext)
   (SELECT product_id, 11001, product_text
          FROM Online_media WHERE product_id = 3060);

See Also:

Inserting a LOB Value Into a Table

This section describes how to insert a LOB value using EMPTY_CLOB() or EMPTY_BLOB().

Usage Notes

Here are guidelines for inserting LOBs:

Before Inserting Make the LOB Column Non-Null

Before you write data to a persistent LOB, make the LOB column non-NULL; that is, the LOB column must contain a locator that points to an empty or populated LOB value. You can initialize a BLOB column value by using the function EMPTY_BLOB() as a default predicate. Similarly, a CLOB or NCLOB column value can be initialized by using the function EMPTY_CLOB().

You can also initialize a LOB column with a character or raw string less than 4000 bytes in size. For example:

INSERT INTO Print_media (product_id, ad_id, ad_sourcetext)
     VALUES (1, 1, 'This is a One Line Advertisement');

Note that you can also perform this initialization during the CREATE TABLE operation. See "Creating a Table Containing One or More LOB Columns" for more information.

These functions are special functions in Oracle SQL, and are not part of the DBMS_LOB package.

/* In the new row of table Print_media, 
   the columns ad_sourcetext and ad_fltextn are initialized using EMPTY_CLOB(), 
   the columns ad_composite and ad_photo are initialized using EMPTY_BLOB(),
   the column formatted-doc in the nested table is initialized using
   EMPTY_BLOB(),
   the column logo in the column object is initialized using EMPTY_BLOB(): */   
INSERT INTO Print_media 
   VALUES (3060,11001, EMPTY_BLOB(), EMPTY_CLOB(),EMPTY_CLOB(),EMPTY_CLOB(), 
   textdoc_tab(textdoc_typ ('HTML', EMPTY_BLOB())), EMPTY_BLOB(), NULL,
   adheader_typ('any header name', <any date>, 'ad header text goes here',
   EMPTY_BLOB()),
 'Press release goes here');

Inserting a Row by Initializing a LOB Locator Bind Variable

This section gives examples of how to insert a row by initializing a LOB locator bind variable.

Preconditions

Before you can insert a row using this technique, the following conditions must be met:

  • The table containing the source row must exist.

  • The destination table must exist.

For details on creating tables containing LOB columns, see "LOB Storage Parameters".

Usage Notes

For guidelines on how to INSERT and UPDATE a row containing a LOB when binds of more than 4000 bytes are involved, see "Binds of All Sizes in INSERT and UPDATE Operations".

Syntax

See the following syntax references for details on using this operation in each programmatic environment:

Examples

Examples for this use case are provided in the following programmatic environments:

PL/SQL: Inserting a Row by Initializing a LOB Locator Bind Variable

/* This file is installed in the following path when you install */
/* the database: $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/demo/lobs/plsql/linsert.sql */

/* inserting a row through an insert statement */

CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE insertLOB_proc (Lob_loc IN BLOB) IS
BEGIN
  /* Insert the BLOB into the row */
  DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('------------ LOB INSERT EXAMPLE ------------');
  INSERT INTO print_media (product_id, ad_id, ad_photo) 
        values (3106, 60315, Lob_loc);
END;
/

C (OCI): Inserting a Row by Initializing a LOB Locator Bind Variable

/* This file is installed in the following path when you install */
/* the database: $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/demo/lobs/oci/linsert.c */

/* Insert the Locator into table using Bind Variables. */
#include <oratypes.h>
#include <lobdemo.h>
void insertLOB_proc(OCILobLocator *Lob_loc, OCIEnv *envhp,
                    OCIError *errhp, OCISvcCtx *svchp, OCIStmt *stmthp)
{
  int            product_id;
  OCIBind       *bndhp3;
  OCIBind       *bndhp2;
  OCIBind       *bndhp1;
  text          *insstmt = 
   (text *) "INSERT INTO Print_media (product_id, ad_id, ad_sourcetext) \
             VALUES (:1, :2, :3)";

  printf ("----------- OCI Lob Insert Demo --------------\n");   
  /* Insert the locator into the Print_media table with product_id=3060 */
  product_id = (int)3060;

  /* Prepare the SQL statement */
  checkerr (errhp, OCIStmtPrepare(stmthp, errhp, insstmt, (ub4) 
                                  strlen((char *) insstmt),
                                  (ub4) OCI_NTV_SYNTAX, (ub4)OCI_DEFAULT));

  /* Binds the bind positions */
  checkerr (errhp, OCIBindByPos(stmthp, &bndhp1, errhp, (ub4) 1,
                                (void *) &product_id, (sb4) sizeof(product_id),
                                SQLT_INT, (void *) 0, (ub2 *)0, (ub2 *)0,
                                (ub4) 0, (ub4 *) 0, (ub4) OCI_DEFAULT));

  checkerr (errhp, OCIBindByPos(stmthp, &bndhp1, errhp, (ub4) 2,
                                (void *) &product_id, (sb4) sizeof(product_id),
                                SQLT_INT, (void *) 0, (ub2 *)0, (ub2 *)0,
                                (ub4) 0, (ub4 *) 0, (ub4) OCI_DEFAULT));

  checkerr (errhp, OCIBindByPos(stmthp, &bndhp2, errhp, (ub4) 3,
                                (void *) &Lob_loc, (sb4) 0,  SQLT_CLOB,
                                (void *) 0, (ub2 *)0, (ub2 *)0,
                                (ub4) 0, (ub4 *) 0, (ub4) OCI_DEFAULT));

  /* Execute the SQL statement */
  checkerr (errhp, OCIStmtExecute(svchp, stmthp, errhp, (ub4) 1, (ub4) 0,
                                  (CONST OCISnapshot*) 0, (OCISnapshot*) 0,  
                                  (ub4) OCI_DEFAULT));
}

COBOL (Pro*COBOL): Inserting a Row by Initializing a LOB Locator Bind Variable

      * This file is installed in the following path when you install
      * the database: $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/demo/lobs/procob/linsert.pco

       IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
       PROGRAM-ID. INSERT-LOB.
       ENVIRONMENT DIVISION.
       DATA DIVISION.
       WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.

       01 BLOB1 SQL-BLOB.
       01  USERID   PIC X(11) VALUES "PM/password".
           EXEC SQL INCLUDE SQLCA END-EXEC.

       PROCEDURE DIVISION.
       INSERT-LOB.
    
           EXEC SQL WHENEVER SQLERROR DO PERFORM SQL-ERROR END-EXEC.
           EXEC SQL CONNECT :USERID END-EXEC.
      * Initialize the BLOB locator
           EXEC SQL ALLOCATE :BLOB1 END-EXEC.
      * Populate the LOB
           EXEC SQL WHENEVER NOT FOUND GOTO END-OF-BLOB END-EXEC.
           EXEC SQL 
              SELECT AD_PHOTO INTO :BLOB1 FROM PRINT_MEDIA
               WHERE PRODUCT_ID = 2268 AND AD_ID = 21001 END-EXEC.
  
      * Insert the value with PRODUCT_ID of 3060
           EXEC SQL 
              INSERT INTO PRINT_MEDIA (PRODUCT_ID, AD_PHOTO)
                 VALUES (3060, 11001, :BLOB1)END-EXEC.

      * Free resources held by locator
       END-OF-BLOB.
           EXEC SQL WHENEVER NOT FOUND CONTINUE END-EXEC.
           EXEC SQL FREE :BLOB1 END-EXEC.
           EXEC SQL ROLLBACK WORK RELEASE END-EXEC.
           STOP RUN.

       SQL-ERROR.
           EXEC SQL WHENEVER SQLERROR CONTINUE END-EXEC.
           DISPLAY " ".
           DISPLAY "ORACLE ERROR DETECTED:".
           DISPLAY " ".
           DISPLAY SQLERRMC.
           EXEC SQL ROLLBACK WORK RELEASE END-EXEC.
           STOP RUN.

Note:

For simplicity in demonstrating this feature, this example does not perform the password management techniques that a deployed system normally uses. In a production environment, follow the Oracle Database password management guidelines, and disable any sample accounts. See Oracle Database Security Guide for password management guidelines and other security recommendations.

C/C++ (Pro*C/C++): Inserting a Row by Initializing a LOB Locator Bind Variable

/* This file is installed in the following path when you install */
/* the database: $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/demo/lobs/proc/linsert.pc */

#include <oci.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <sqlca.h>

void Sample_Error()
{
   EXEC SQL WHENEVER SQLERROR CONTINUE;
   printf("%.*s\n", sqlca.sqlerrm.sqlerrml, sqlca.sqlerrm.sqlerrmc);
   EXEC SQL ROLLBACK WORK RELEASE;
   exit(1);
}

void insertUseBindVariable_proc(Rownum, Lob_loc)
   int Rownum, Rownum2;
   OCIBlobLocator *Lob_loc;
{
   EXEC SQL WHENEVER SQLERROR DO Sample_Error();
   EXEC SQL INSERT INTO Print_media (product_id, ad_id, ad_photo)
      VALUES (:Rownum, :Rownum2, :Lob_loc);
}
void insertBLOB_proc()
{
   OCIBlobLocator *Lob_loc;

   /* Initialize the BLOB Locator: */
   EXEC SQL ALLOCATE :Lob_loc;

   /* Select the LOB from the row where product_id = 2268 and ad_id=21001: */
   EXEC SQL SELECT ad_photo INTO :Lob_loc
      FROM Print_media WHERE product_id = 2268 AND ad_id = 21001;

   /* Insert into the row where product_id = 3106 and ad_id = 13001: */
   insertUseBindVariable_proc(3106, 13001, Lob_loc);

   /* Release resources held by the locator: */
   EXEC SQL FREE :Lob_loc;
}

void main()
{
   char *samp = "pm/password";
   EXEC SQL CONNECT :pm;
   insertBLOB_proc();
   EXEC SQL ROLLBACK WORK RELEASE;
}

COM (OO4O): Inserting a Row by Initializing a LOB Locator Bind Variable

' This file is installed in the following path when you install
' the database: $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/demo/lobs/vb/linsert.bas

Dim OraDyn as OraDynaset, OraPhoto1 as OraBLOB, OraPhotoClone as OraBLOB
Set OraDyn = OraDb.CreateDynaset(
   "SELECT * FROM Print_media ORDER BY product_id", ORADYN_DEFAULT)
Set OraPhoto1 = OraDyn.Fields("ad_photo").Value
'Clone it for future reference
Set OraPhotoClone = OraPhoto1  

'Go to Next row
OraDyn.MoveNext
'Lets update the current row and set the LOB to OraPhotoClone
OraDyn.Edit
Set OraPhoto1 = OraPhotoClone
OraDyn.Update

Java (JDBC): Inserting a Row by Initializing a LOB Locator Bind Variable

/* This file is installed in the following path when you install */
/* the database: $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/demo/lobs/java/linsert.java */
 
// Core JDBC classes: 
import java.sql.DriverManager;
import java.sql.Connection;
import java.sql.Statement;
import java.sql.PreparedStatement;
import java.sql.ResultSet;
import java.sql.SQLException;
 
// Oracle Specific JDBC classes: 
import oracle.sql.*;
import oracle.jdbc.driver.*;
 
public class linsert
{
  public static void main (String args [])
       throws Exception
  {
    // Load the Oracle JDBC driver
    DriverManager.registerDriver (new oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleDriver ());
    // Connect to the database: 
    Connection conn =
       DriverManager.getConnection ("jdbc:oracle:oci8:@", "pm", "password");
 
    // It's faster when auto commit is off: 
    conn.setAutoCommit (false);
 
    // Create a Statement: 
    Statement stmt = conn.createStatement ();
    try
    {
       ResultSet rset = stmt.executeQuery (
  "SELECT ad_photo FROM Print_media WHERE product_id = 3106 AND ad_id = 13001");
       if (rset.next())
       {
          // retrieve the LOB locator from the ResultSet
          BLOB adphoto_blob = ((OracleResultSet)rset).getBLOB (1);
          OraclePreparedStatement ops = 
          (OraclePreparedStatement) conn.prepareStatement(
"INSERT INTO Print_media (product_id, ad_id, ad_photo) VALUES (2268, "
+ "21001, ?)");
          ops.setBlob(1, adphoto_blob);
          ops.execute();
          conn.commit();
          conn.close();
       }
    }
    catch (SQLException e)
    {
       e.printStackTrace();
    }
  }
}

Updating a LOB with EMPTY_CLOB() or EMPTY_BLOB()

This section describes how to UPDATE a LOB with EMPTY_CLOB() or EMPTY_BLOB().

Note:

Performance improves when you update the LOB with the actual value, instead of using EMPTY_CLOB() or EMPTY_BLOB().

Preconditions

Before you write data to a persistent LOB, make the LOB column non-NULL; that is, the LOB column must contain a locator that points to an empty or populated LOB value. You can initialize a BLOB column value by using the function EMPTY_BLOB() as a default predicate. Similarly, a CLOB or NCLOB column value can be initialized by using the function EMPTY_CLOB().

You can also initialize a LOB column with a character or raw string less than 4000 bytes in size. For example:

UPDATE Print_media 
          SET ad_sourcetext = 'This is a One Line Story'
          WHERE product_id = 2268;

You can perform this initialization during CREATE TABLE (see "Creating a Table Containing One or More LOB Columns") or, as in this case, by means of an INSERT.

The following example shows a series of updates using the EMPTY_CLOB operation to different data types.

UPDATE Print_media SET ad_sourcetext = EMPTY_CLOB() 
       WHERE product_id = 3060 AND ad_id = 11001;

UPDATE Print_media SET ad_fltextn = EMPTY_CLOB() 
       WHERE product_id = 3060 AND ad_id = 11001;

UPDATE Print_media SET ad_photo = EMPTY_BLOB()
       WHERE product_id = 3060 AND ad_id = 11001;

See Also:

SQL: Oracle Database SQL Language Reference Chapter 7, "SQL Statements" — UPDATE

Updating a Row by Selecting a LOB From Another Table

This section describes how to use the SQL UPDATE AS SELECT statement to update a row containing a LOB column by selecting a LOB from another table.

To use this technique, you must update by means of a reference. For example, the following code updates data from online_media:

Rem Updating a row by selecting a LOB from another table (persistent LOBs)

UPDATE Print_media SET ad_sourcetext = 
   (SELECT * product_text FROM online_media WHERE product_id = 3060);
    WHERE product_id = 3060 AND ad_id = 11001;