Oracle Built-in Packages

DBMS_DESCRIBE: Describing PL/SQL Program Headers

The DBMS_DESCRIBE package contains a single procedure used to describe the arguments of a stored PL/SQL object.

Getting Started with DBMS_DESCRIBE

The DBMS_DESCRIBE package is created when the Oracle database is installed. The dbmsdesc.sql script (found in the built-in packages source code directory, as described in Chapter 1) contains the source code for this package’s specification. This script is called by catproc.sql, which is normally run immediately after database creation. The script creates the public synonym DMS_DESCRIBE for the package and grants EXECUTE privilege on the package to public. All Oracle users can reference and make use of this package.

DBMS_DESCRIBE program

Table 10.2 summarizes the single procedure available through DBMS_DESCRIBE.

Table 10-2. DBMS_DESCRIBE Program

Name	Description	Use in SQL
DESCRIBE_PROCEDURE	Describes the specified PL/SQL object by returning all of the information for the object in a set of scalar and PL/SQL table parameters.	No

DBMS_DESCRIBE nonprogram elements

In addition to the DESCRIBE_PROCEDURE procedure, DBMS_DESCRIBE defines two PL/SQL table types you can use when calling or describing a PL/SQL object. These are described in the following table.

Name/Type	Description
DBMS_DESCRIBE.VARCHAR2_TABLE	Table TYPE of 30-character strings; used to declare PL/SQL tables to hold string information returned by DBMS_DESCRIBE.DESCRIBE_PROCEDURE.
DBMS_DESCRIBE.NUMBER_TABLE	Table TYPE of ...