Built-in functions operate on certain types of data to return a result; they include several categories: character, date, numeric, conversion,

LOB (large object), and miscellaneous functions. Functions are described in detail in Steven Feuerstein's Oracle PL/SQL Programming; this comprehensive guide to building applications with PL/SQL has become the bible for PL/SQL developers who have raved about its completeness, readability, and practicality.

Built-in packages (collections of PL/SQL objects) greatly expand the scope of the PL/SQL language-for example, DBMS_SQL executes dynamically constructed SQL statements and PL/SQL blocks. These packages are described in detail in Feuerstein's book (coauthored with Charles Dye and John Beresniewicz), Oracle Built-in Packages.

Oracle PL/SQL Built-ins Pocket Reference contains highly useful summary information for the PL/SQL built-in functions and packages in an easy-to-access format.. It also shows how to call the built-in functions and packages. For packages, it shows the RESTRICT REFERENCES pragmas (needed if you call packages from a SQL statement), as well as the exceptions, constants, and data structures defined in the packages.

###

Oracle PL/SQL Built-ins Pocket Reference
By Steven Feuerstein, John Beresniewicz & Chip Dawes
1st Edition October 1998
80 pages, ISBN: 1-56592-456-8, $6.95

Oracle PL/SQL Programming
By Steven Feuerstein with Bill Pribyl
2nd Edition September 1997
1,028 pages, ISBN: 1-56592-335-9; $46.95