Can a stored procedure return a recordset?

[keithmccon]

In MSSQL a stored procedure can return a recordset, which can then be used by a program such as Crystal Reports. Can Oracle stored procedures return recordsets? If so, how is this accomplished. Is it version dependent?

Thanks
Keith McConchie

[chrisrlong]

By basic design - No.

However, if the tool that you are using to access the Oracle database uses ADO, then - Yes.

There are 2 ways to return a recordset from Oracle, through ADO, to your application.

Here is a link for one method:
[url]http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q176/0/86.ASP?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0[/url]

Although the next example uses ASP on the client end, the Oracle side is what you're interested in.

[url]http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q255/0/43.ASP?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0[/url]

Basically, you can either return a set of table parameters (the first method) that ADO will translate into a recordset for you (slow) or you can return a ref cursor which ADO can also convert to a recordset for you (faster).

Hope this helps

- Chris