Oracle Nested Tables

Oracle Nested Tables Version 11.2.0.3

General Information

Note: A nested table is a table stored within the structure of another table.

Data Dictionary Objects

ALL_NESTED_TABLES	DBA_NESTED_TABLES	TYPE$
ALL_NESTED_TABLE_COLS	DBA_NESTED_TABLE_COLS	USER_NESTED_TABLES
ALL_SOURCE	DBA_SOURCE	USER_NESTED_TABLE_COLS
ALL_TABLES	DBA_TABLES	USER_SOURCE
ALL_TAB_COLS	DBA_TAB_COLS	USER_TABLES
ALL_TYPES	DBA_TYPES	USER_TAB_COLS
COLLECTION$	TAB$	USER_TYPES

System Privileges

CREATE ANY TABLE	CREATE TABLE	DROP ANY TABLE
CREATE ANY TYPE	CREATE TYPE	DROP ANY TYPE

Nested Table Examples

Create Table

CREATE OR REPLACE TYPE CourseList AS TABLE OF VARCHAR2(64);
/

desc courselist

col text format a50

SELECT type, text
FROM user_source
WHERE name = 'COURSELIST';

CREATE TABLE department (
name VARCHAR2(20),
director VARCHAR2(20),
office VARCHAR2(20),
courses CourseList)
NESTED TABLE courses STORE AS courses_tab;

desc department

desc courses_tab

SELECT table_name, nested
FROM user_tables;

set linesize 121
col table_name format a20
col data_type format a30
col table_type_name format a15
col parent_table_column format a10

SELECT column_name, data_type, data_length
FROM user_tab_cols
WHERE table_name = 'DEPARTMENT';

SELECT table_name, table_type_owner, table_type_name,
parent_table_column
FROM user_nested_tables;

Insert into Nested Table

SELECT cardinality(courses)
FROM department;

INSERT INTO department
(name, director, office, courses)
VALUES
('English', 'Lynn Saunders', 'Breakstone Hall 205', CourseList(
'Expository Writing',
'Film and Literature',
'Modern Science Fiction',
'Discursive Writing',
'Modern English Grammar',
'Introduction to Shakespeare',
'Modern Drama',
'The Short Story',
'The American Novel'));

SELECT * FROM department;

SELECT cardinality(courses)
FROM department;

Update a nested table

DECLARE
new_courses CourseList := CourseList('Expository Writing', 'Film and Literature', 'Discursive Writing',
'Modern English Grammar', 'Realism and Naturalism', 'Introduction to Shakespeare', 'Modern Drama',
'The Short Story', 'The American Novel', '20th-Century Poetry', 'Advanced Workshop in Poetry');
BEGIN
   UPDATE department
   SET courses = new_courses
   WHERE name = 'English';
END;
/

SELECT * FROM department;

SELECT cardinality(courses)
FROM department;

Drop nested table

SELECT table_name
FROM user_tables;

DROP TABLE courses_tab;

-- you cannot directly drop the storage table of a nested table.
-- first drop the nested table column using ALTER TABLE ... DROP COLUMN

desc department

ALTER TABLE department
DROP COLUMN courses;

Table Unnesting

Collection Unnesting Demo

-- to select data from a nested table column unnest it with the TABLE function to treat the nested table as columns of a table.

SELECT t1.department_id, t2.*
FROM hr_info t1, TABLE(t1.people) t2
WHERE t2.department_id = t1.department_id;

SELECT t1.name, t2.*
FROM department t1, TABLE(t1.courses) t2;

Nested Table Demos

Note: A nested table is a table stored within the structure of another table.

Constructor for a Nested Table

-- In the following example, pass multiple elements to the constructor CourseList(), which returns a nested table containing those elements

DECLARE
TYPE CourseList IS TABLE OF VARCHAR2(16);
my_courses CourseList;
BEGIN
my_courses := CourseList('Econ 2010','Acct 3401','Mgmt 3100');
END;
/

Because a PL/SQL table does not have a declared maximum size, you can put as many elements in the constructor as necessary.

DECLARE
TYPE CourseList IS TABLE OF VARCHAR2(16);
my_courses CourseList;
BEGIN
my_courses := CourseList('Econ 2010','Acct 3401','Mgmt 3100');
my_courses := CourseList('Math 2022','Acct 3431','Mgmt 3100');
my_courses := CourseList('Phys 2299','Chem 9876');
my_courses := CourseList('Food 9999');
my_courses := CourseList('Orcl 3456','Math 3434','Hist 1040');
END;
/

Defining a Type as a database object

CREATE OR REPLACE TYPE CourseList AS TABLE OF VARCHAR2(64);
/

Defining Types in a package header

CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE xyz IS
TYPE CourseList IS TABLE OF VARCHAR2(64);
TYPE PartNum IS TABLE OF parent.part_num%TYPE INDEX BY BINARY_INTEGER;
END xyz;
/