1 Introduction to PL/SQL in the TimesTen Database

Features of PL/SQL in TimesTen

PL/SQL support in TimesTen allows you to:

• Take full advantage of the PL/SQL programming language.

• Execute PL/SQL from your client applications that use these APIs:

  • JDBC

  • OCI

  • ODBC

  • Pro*C/C++

  • TTClasses

• Execute TimesTen SQL from PL/SQL

• CREATE, ALTER, and DROP standalone procedures, functions, packages and package bodies.

• Use PL/SQL packages to extend your database functionality and to provide PL/SQL access to SQL features.

• Handle exceptions and errors in your PL/SQL applications.

• Set connection attributes in your TimesTen database to customize your PL/SQL environment.

• ALTER session parameters so you can manage your PL/SQL environment.

• Display PL/SQL metadata in your in TimesTen database by using PL/SQL system views.

Sources of documentation for PL/SQL

The Oracle Database and TimesTen In-Memory Database documentation libraries provide multiple sources of information to help you learn about features and enhancements of PL/SQL in TimesTen.

This guide, the Oracle TimesTen In-Memory Database PL/SQL Developer's Guide, is your main source of information for exploring the many features of PL/SQL in TimesTen. Use its examples to assist you, and refer to its descriptions of differences between PL/SQL in the TimesTen database and PL/SQL in Oracle Database.

Table 1-1 lists specific sources of documentation within this guide, as well as relevant information in other Oracle Database and TimesTen documents. Oracle documentation is available through the following URL:

http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation/database.html

Audiences for this document

There are two primary developer audiences for this document:

• Developers experienced with Oracle Database and Oracle PL/SQL who want to learn how to use PL/SQL in TimesTen. In particular, they want to learn the differences between PL/SQL in Oracle and PL/SQL in TimesTen.

• Developers experienced with TimesTen who are not familiar with PL/SQL. These readers need general information about PL/SQL.

The following subsections note areas of particular interest in this document for each audience.

About the TimesTen PL/SQL demos

After you have configured your environment, you can confirm that everything is set up correctly by compiling and running the TimesTen Quick Start demo applications. Refer to the Quick Start welcome page at install_dir/quickstart.html, especially the links under Sample Programs, for information about the following:

• Demo schema and setup

  The build_sampledb script creates a sample database and demo schema. You must run this before you start using the demos.

• Demo environment and setup

  The ttquickstartenv script, a superset of the ttenv script generally used for TimesTen setup, sets up the demo environment. You must run this each time you enter a session where you want to compile and run any of the demos.

• Demos and setup

  TimesTen provides demos for PL/SQL in a subdirectory under the quickstart/sample_code directory. For instructions on running the demos, see the README file in the subdirectory.

• What the demos do

  A synopsis of each demo is provided.