101 DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE

Overview

This package enables the user to incrementally update table data in parallel, in two high level steps:

1. Group sets of rows in the table into smaller sized chunks.

2. Run a user specified statement on these chunks in parallel, and commit when finished processing each chunk.

This package introduces the notion of parallel execution task. This task groups the various steps associated with the parallel execution of a PL/SQL block, which is typically updating table data.

All of the package subroutines (except the GENERATE_TASK_NAME Function and the TASK_STATUS Procedure) perform a commit.

Security Model

DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE is a SYS-owned package which is granted to PUBLIC.

Any user can create or operate his own parallel execution tasks and access the USER view.

Users who have the ADM_PARALLEL_EXECUTE_TASK role can perform administrative routines (qualified by the prefix ADM_) and access the DBA view.

Apart from the administrative routines, all the subprograms refer to tasks owned by the current user.

To execute chunks in parallel, the user must have CREATE JOB system privilege.

The CHUNK_BY_SQL, RUN_TASK, and RESUME_TASK subprograms require a query, and are executed using DBMS_SQL. Invokers of the DBMS_SQL interface must ensure that none of the queries passed-in contains SQL injection.

Constants

The DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE package uses the constants shown in following tables:

• Table 101-1, "DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE Constants - Chunk Status Value"

• Table 101-2, "DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE Constants - Task Status Value"

Views

The DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE package uses views listed in the Oracle Database Reference:

• DBA_PARALLEL_EXECUTE_CHUNKS

• DBA_PARALLEL_EXECUTE_TASKS

• USER_PARALLEL_EXECUTE_CHUNKS

• USER_PARALLEL_EXECUTE_TASKS

Exceptions

The following table lists the exceptions raised by DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.

Examples

The following examples run on the Human Resources (HR) schema of the Oracle Database Sample Schemas. It requires that the HR schema be created with the JOB SYSTEM privilege.

Chunk by ROWID

This example shows the most common usage of this package. After calling the RUN_TASK Procedure, it checks for errors and re-runs in the case of error.

DECLARE
  l_sql_stmt VARCHAR2(1000);
  l_try NUMBER;
  l_status NUMBER;
BEGIN
 
  -- Create the TASK
  DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.CREATE_TASK ('mytask');
 
  -- Chunk the table by ROWID
  DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.CREATE_CHUNKS_BY_ROWID('mytask', 'HR', 'EMPLOYEES', true, 100);
 
  -- Execute the DML in parallel
  l_sql_stmt := 'update /*+ ROWID (dda) */ EMPLOYEES e 
      SET e.salary = e.salary + 10
      WHERE rowid BETWEEN :start_id AND :end_id';
  DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.RUN_TASK('mytask', l_sql_stmt, DBMS_SQL.NATIVE,
                                 parallel_level => 10);
 
  -- If there is an error, RESUME it for at most 2 times.
  L_try := 0;
  L_status := DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.TASK_STATUS('mytask');
  WHILE(l_try < 2 and L_status != DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.FINISHED) 
  LOOP
    L_try := l_try + 1;
    DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.RESUME_TASK('mytask');
    L_status := DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.TASK_STATUS('mytask');
  END LOOP;
 
  -- Done with processing; drop the task
  DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.DROP_TASK('mytask');
   
END;
/

Chunk by User-Provided SQL

A user can specify their own chunk algorithm by using the CREATE_CHUNKS_BY_SQL Procedure. This example shows that rows with the same manager_id are grouped together and processed in one chunk.

DECLARE
  l_chunk_sql VARCHAR2(1000);
  l_sql_stmt VARCHAR2(1000);
  l_try NUMBER;
  l_status NUMBER;
BEGIN
 
  -- Create the TASK
  DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.CREATE_TASK ('mytask');
 
  -- Chunk the table by MANAGER_ID
  l_chunk_sql := 'SELECT distinct manager_id, manager_id FROM employees';
  DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.CREATE_CHUNKS_BY_SQL('mytask', l_chunk_sql, false);
 
  -- Execute the DML in parallel
  --   the WHERE clause contain a condition on manager_id, which is the chunk
  --   column. In this case, grouping rows is by manager_id.
  l_sql_stmt := 'update /*+ ROWID (dda) */ EMPLOYEES e 
      SET e.salary = e.salary + 10
      WHERE manager_id between :start_id and :end_id';
  DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.RUN_TASK('mytask', l_sql_stmt, DBMS_SQL.NATIVE,
                                  parallel_level => 10);
 
  -- If there is error, RESUME it for at most 2 times.
  L_try := 0;
  L_status := DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.TASK_STATUS('mytask');
  WHILE(l_try < 2 and L_status != DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.FINISHED) 
  Loop
    L_try := l_try + 1;
    DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.RESUME_TASK('mytask');
    L_status := DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.TASK_STATUS('mytask');
  END LOOP;
 
  -- Done with processing; drop the task
  DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.DROP_TASK('mytask');
 
end;
/

Executing Chunks in an User-defined Framework

The user can execute chunks in his own defined framework without using the RUN_TASK Procedure. This example shows how to use GET_ROWID_CHUNK Procedure, EXECUTE IMMEDIATE, SET_CHUNK_STATUS Procedure to execute the chunks.

DECLARE
  l_sql_stmt varchar2(1000);
  l_try number;
  l_status number;
  l_chunk_id number;
  l_start_rowid rowid;
  l_end_rowid rowid;
  l_any_rows boolean;
  CURSOR c1 IS SELECT chunk_id
               FROM user_parallel_execute_chunks
               WHERE task_name = 'mytask'
                 AND STATUS IN (DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.PROCESSED_WITH_ERROR,
                                DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.ASSIGNED);
BEGIN
 
  -- Create the Objects, task, and chunk by ROWID
  DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.CREATE_TASK ('mytask');
  DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.CREATE_CHUNKS_BY_ROWID('mytask', 'HR', 'EMPLOYEES', true, 100);
 
  l_sql_stmt := 'update /*+ ROWID (dda) */ EMPLOYEES e 
      SET e.salary = e.salary + 10
      WHERE rowid BETWEEN :start_id AND :end_id';
 
  -- Execute the DML in his own framework 
  --
  -- Process each chunk and commit.
  -- After processing one chunk, repeat this process until
  -- all the chunks are processed.
  --
  <<main_processing>>
  LOOP
      --
      -- Get a chunk to process; if there is nothing to process, then exit the 
      -- loop;
      --
      DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.GET_ROWID_CHUNK('mytask',
                                                          l_chunk_id,
                                                          l_start_rowid,
                                                          l_end_rowid,
                                                          l_any_rows);
      IF (l_any_rows = false) THEN EXIT; END IF;
 
      --
      -- The chunk is specified by start_id and end_id.
      -- Bind the start_id and end_id and then execute it
      --
      -- If no error occured, set the chunk status to PROCESSED.
      --
      -- Catch any exception. If an exception occured, store the error num/msg
      -- into the chunk table and then continue to process the next chunk.
      -- 
      BEGIN
        EXECUTE IMMEDIATE l_sql_stmt using l_start_rowid, l_end_rowid;
        DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.SET_CHUNK_STATUS('mytask',l_chunk_id,
          DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.PROCESSED);
      EXCEPTION WHEN OTHERS THEN
        DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.SET_CHUNK_STATUS('mytask', l_chunk_id,
          DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.PROCESSED_WITH_ERROR, SQLCODE, SQLERRM);
      END;
 
      --
      -- Finished processing one chunk; Commit here
      --
      COMMIT;
  END LOOP;

ADM_DROP_CHUNKS Procedure

This procedure drops all chunks of the specified task owned by the specified owner.

DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.ADM_DROP_CHUNKS (
   task_owner      IN  VARCHAR2,
   task_name       IN  VARCHAR2);

ADM_DROP_TASK Procedure

This procedure drops the task of the specified user and all related chunks.

DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.ADM_DROP_TASK (
   task_owner      IN  VARCHAR2,
   task_name       IN  VARCHAR2);

ADM_TASK_STATUS Procedure

This function returns the task status.

DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.ADM_TASK_STATUS  (
   task_owner      IN  VARCHAR2,
   task_name       IN  VARCHAR2)
 RETURN NUMBER;

ADM_STOP_TASK Procedure

This procedure stops the task of the specified owner and related job slaves.

DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.ADM_STOP_TASK (
   task_owner      IN  VARCHAR2,
   task_name       IN  VARCHAR2);

CREATE_TASK Procedure

This procedure creates a task for the current user. The pairing of task_name and current_user must be unique.

DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.CREATE_TASK (
   task_name        IN   VARCHAR2,
   comment          IN   VARCHAR2 DEFAULT NULL);

CREATE_CHUNKS_BY_NUMBER_COL Procedure

This procedure chunks the table (associated with the specified task) by the specified column. The specified column must be a NUMBER column. This procedure takes the MIN and MAX value of the column, and then divide the range evenly according to chunk_size. The chunks are:

START_ID                              END_ID
---------------------------           ---------------------------
min_id_val                            min_id_val+1*chunk_size-1
min_id_val+1*chunk_size               min_id_val+2*chunk_size-1
…                                     …
min_id_val+i*chunk_size               max_id_val

DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.CREATE_CHUNKS_BY_NUMBER_COL (
   task_name       IN  VARCHAR2,
   table_owner     IN  VARCHAR2,
   table_name      IN  VARCHAR2,
   table_column    IN  VARCHAR2,
   chunk_size      IN  NUMBER);

CREATE_CHUNKS_BY_ROWID Procedure

This procedure chunks the table (associated with the specified task) by ROWID. num_row and num_block are approximate guidance for the size of each chunk. The table to be chunked must be a physical table with physical ROWID having views and table functions. Index Organized Tables are not allowed.

DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.CREATE_CHUNKS_BY_ROWID (
   task_name       IN  VARCHAR2,
   table_owner     IN  VARCHAR2,
   table_name      IN  VARCHAR2,
   by_row          IN  BOOLEAN,
   chunk_size      IN  NUMBER);

CREATE_CHUNKS_BY_SQL Procedure

This procedure chunks the table (associated with the specified task) by means of a user-provided SELECT statement. The select statement which returns the range of each chunk must have two columns: start_id and end_id. If task is to chunk by ROWID, then the two columns must be of ROWID type. If the task is to chunk the table by NUMBER column, then the two columns must be of NUMBER type. The procedure provides the flexibility to users who want to deploy user-defined chunk algorithms.

DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.CREATE_CHUNKS_BY_SQL (
   task_name       IN  VARCHAR2,
   sql_statement   IN  CLOB,
   by_rowid        IN  BOOLEAN);

DROP_TASK Procedure

This procedure drops the task and all related chunks.

DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.DROP_TASK (
   task_name       IN VARCHAR2);

DROP_CHUNKS Procedure

This procedure drops the task's chunks.

DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.DROP_CHUNKS (
   task_name       IN VARCHAR2);

GENERATE_TASK_NAME Function

This function returns a unique name for a task. The name is of the form prefixN where N is a number from a sequence. If no prefix is specified, the generated name is, by default, be TASK$_1, TASK$_2, TASK$_3, and so on. If 'SCOTT' is specified as the prefix, the name is SCOTT1, SCOTT2, and so on.

DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.GENERATE_TASK_NAME (
   prefix      IN      VARCHAR2 DEFAULT 'TASK$_') 
 RETURN VARCHAR2;

GET_NUMBER_COL_CHUNK Procedure

This procedure picks an unassigned NUMBER chunk and changes it to ASSIGNED. If there are no more chunks to assign, any_rows is set to FALSE. Otherwise, the chunk_id, start and end_id of the chunk is returned as OUT parameters. The chunk info in DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE_CHUNKS$ is updated as follows: STATUS becomes ASSIGNED; START_TIMESTAMP records the current time; END_TIMESTAMP is cleared.

DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.GET_NUMBER_COL_CHUNK (
   task_name       IN VARCHAR2,
   chunk_id        OUT NUMBER,
   start_rowid     OUT ROWID,      
   end_id          OUT ROWID,
   any_rows        OUT BOOLEAN);

GET_ROWID_CHUNK Procedure

This procedure picks an unassigned ROWID chunk and changes it to ASSIGNED. If there are no more chunks to assign, any_rows is set to FALSE. Otherwise, the chunk_id, start and end_id of the chunk is returned as OUT parameters. The chunk info in DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE_CHUNKS$ is updated as follows: STATUS becomes ASSIGNED; START_TIMESTAMP records the current time; END_TIMESTAMP is cleared.

DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.GET_ROWID_CHUNK (
   task_name       IN VARCHAR2,
   chunk_id        OUT NUMBER,
   start_rowid     OUT ROWID,      
   end_id          OUT ROWID,
   any_rows        OUT BOOLEAN);

PURGE_PROCESSED_CHUNKS Procedure

This procedure deletes all the processed chunks whose status is PROCESSED or PROCESSED_WITH_ERROR.

DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.PURGE_PROCESSED_CHUNKS (
   task_name       IN VARCHAR2);

RESUME_TASK Procedures

This procedure retries the specified the task if the RUN_TASK Procedure finished with error, or resumes the task if a crash has occurred. The user can only invoke this procedure if the task is in a CRASHED or FINISHED_WITH_ERROR state. For a crashed serial execution, the state remains in processing. The FORCE option allows user to resume any task in PROCESSING state. However, it is the user's responsibility to determine that a crash has occurred.The procedure resumes processing the chunks which have not been processed. Also, chunks which are in PROCESSED_WITH_ERROR or ASSIGNED (due to crash) state are processed because those chunks did not commit.This procedure takes the same argument as the RUN_TASK Procedure.The overload which takes task_name as the only input argument re-uses the arguments provided in the previous invoking of the RUN_TASK Procedure or RESUME_TASK Procedures.

DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.RESUME_TASK (
   task_name                     IN  VARCHAR2,
   sql_stmt                      IN  CLOB,   language_flag                 IN  NUMBER,   edition                       IN  VARCHAR2  DEFAULT NULL,   apply_crossedition_trigger    IN  VARCHAR2  DEFAULT NULL,   fire_apply_trigger            IN  BOOLEAN   DEFAULT TRUE,   parallel_level                IN  NUMBER    DEFAULT 0,   job_class                     IN  VARCHAR2  DEFAULT 'DEFAULT_JOB_CLASS',
   force                         IN  BOOLEAN   DEFAULT FALSE);

DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.RESUME_TASK (
   task_name                     IN  VARCHAR2,
   force                         IN  BOOLEAN   DEFAULT FALSE);

START_ID                              END_ID
---------------------------           ---------------------------
1                                     10
11                                    20
21                                    30

UPDATE employees
      SET salary = salary + 10
      WHERE e.employee_id  BETWEEN :start_id AND :end_id

UPDATE employees  
      SET salary =.salary + 10  WHERE employee_id BETWEEN 1 and 10; 
      COMMIT;

UPDATE employees  
      SET salary =.salary + 10  WHERE employee_id between 11 and 20;
      COMMIT;

UPDATE employees  
      SET salary =.salary + 10  WHERE employee_id between 21 and 30;
      COMMIT;

RUN_TASK Procedure

This procedure executes the specified statement (sql_stmt) on the chunks in parallel. It commits after processing each chunk. The specified statement must have two placeholders called start_id, and end_id respectively, which represent the range of the chunk to be processed. The types of the placeholder must be rowid where ROWID based chunking was used, or NUMBER where number based chunking was used. The specified statement should not commit unless it is idempotent.

The SQL statement is executed as the current user.

If apply_crossedition_trigger is specified, DBMS_CROSSEDITION_TRIGGER.IS_APPLYING returns true for the sessions executing the SQL. Therefore, for parallel execution, DBMS_CROSSEDITION_TRIGGER.IS_APPLYING returns true in the Job slaves session.

Chunks can be executed in parallel by DBMS_SCHEDULER Job slaves. Therefore, parallel execution requires CREATE JOB system privilege. The Job slaves is created under the current user. The default number of Job slaves is computed as the product of Oracle parameters cpu_count and parallel_threads_per_cpu. On a Real Application Clusters installation, the number of Job slaves is the sum of individual settings on each node in the cluster. This procedure returns only when all the chunks are processed. In parallel cases, this procedure returns only when all the Job slaves finished.

DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.RUN_TASK (
   task_name                     IN  VARCHAR2,
   sql_stmt                      IN  CLOB,   language_flag                 IN  NUMBER,   edition                       IN  VARCHAR2  DEFAULT NULL,   apply_crossedition_trigger    IN  VARCHAR2  DEFAULT NULL,   fire_apply_trigger            IN  BOOLEAN   DEFAULT TRUE,   parallel_level                IN  NUMBER    DEFAULT 0,   job_class                     IN  VARCHAR2  DEFAULT 'DEFAULT_JOB_CLASS');

START_ID                              END_ID
---------------------------           ---------------------------
1                                     10
11                                    20
21                                    30

UPDATE employees
      SET salary = salary + 10
      WHERE e.employee_id  BETWEEN :start_id AND :end_id

UPDATE employees  
      SET salary =.salary + 10  WHERE employee_id BETWEEN 1 and 10; 
      COMMIT;

UPDATE employees  
      SET salary =.salary + 10  WHERE employee_id between 11 and 20;
      COMMIT;

UPDATE employees  
      SET salary =.salary + 10  WHERE employee_id between 21 and 30;
      COMMIT;

SET_CHUNK_STATUS Procedure

This procedure sets the status of the chunk. The START_TIMESTAMP and END_TIMESTAMP of the chunk is updated according to the new status:

Value of the new Status               Side Effect
---------------------------           ---------------------------
UNASSIGNED                            START_TIMESTAMP and END_TIMESTAMP 
                                      will be cleared
ASSIGNED                              START_TIMESTAMP will be the current time 
                                      and END_TIMESTAMP will be cleared.
PROCESSED or PROCESSED_WITH_ERROR     The current time will be recorded 
                                      in END_TIMESTAMP

DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.SET_CHUNK_STATUS (
   task_name       IN VARCHAR2,
   chunk_id        OUT NUMBER,
   status          IN  NUMBER,
   err_num         IN  NUMBER   DEFAULT NULL,
   err_msg         IN  VARCHAR2 DEFAULT NULL);

STOP_TASK Procedure

This procedure stops the task and related job slaves.

DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.STOP_TASK (
   task_name       IN VARCHAR2);

TASK_STATUS Procedure

This function returns the task status.

DBMS_PARALLEL_EXECUTE.TASK_STATUS (
   task_name       IN VARCHAR2);