PL/SQL Interview Questions and Answers

SQLSQL is an English like language consisting of commands to store, retrieve, maintain & regulate access to your database.

SQL*PLUSSQL*PLUS is an application that recognizes & executes SQL commands & specialized SQL*Plus commands that can customize reports, provide help & edit facility & maintain system variables.

NVLNVL : Null value function converts a null value to a non-null value for the purpose of evaluating an expression. Numeric Functions accept numeric I/P & return numeric values. They are MOD, SQRT, ROUND, TRUNC & POWER.

Date FunctionsDate Functions are ADD_MONTHS, LAST_DAY, NEXT_DAY, MONTHS_BETWEEN & SYSDATE.

Character FunctionsCharacter Functions are INITCAP, UPPER, LOWER, SUBSTR & LENGTH. Additional functions are GREATEST & LEAST. Group Functions returns results based upon groups of rows rather than one result per row, use group functions. They are AVG, COUNT, MAX, MIN & SUM.

TTITLE & BTITLETTITLE & BTITLE are commands to control report headings & footers.

COLUMNCOLUMN command define column headings & format data values.

BREAKBREAK command clarify reports by suppressing repeated values, skipping lines & allowing for controlled break points.

COMPUTEcommand control computations on subsets created by the BREAK command.

SETSET command changes the system variables affecting the report environment.

SPOOLSPOOL command creates a print file of the report.

JOIN JOIN is the form of SELECT command that combines info from two or more tables.
Types of Joins are Simple (Equijoin & Non-Equijoin), Outer & Self join.
Equijoin returns rows from two or more tables joined together based upon a equality condition in the WHERE clause.
Non-Equijoin returns rows from two or more tables based upon a relationship other than the equality condition in the WHERE clause.
Outer Join combines two or more tables returning those rows from one table that have no direct match in the other table.
Self Join joins a table to itself as though it were two separate tables.

Union Union is the product of two or more tables.

IntersectIntersect is the product of two tables listing only the matching rows.

MinusMinus is the product of two tables listing only the non-matching rows.

Correlated SubqueryCorrelated Subquery is a subquery that is evaluated once for each row processed by the parent statement. Parent statement can be Select, Update or Delete. Use CRSQ to answer multipart questions whose answer depends on the value in each row processed by parent statement.

Multiple columnsMultiple columns can be returned from a Nested Subquery.

Sequences Sequences are used for generating sequence numbers without any overhead of locking. Drawback is that after generating a sequence number if the transaction is rolled back, then that sequence number is lost.

Synonyms Synonyms is the alias name for table, views, sequences & procedures and are created for reasons of Security and Convenience.
Two levels are Public - created by DBA & accessible to all the users. Private - Accessible to creator only. Advantages are referencing without specifying the owner and Flexibility to customize a more meaningful naming convention.

Indexes Indexes are optional structures associated with tables used to speed query execution and/or guarantee uniqueness. Create an index if there are frequent retrieval of fewer than 10-15% of the rows in a large table and columns are referenced frequently in the WHERE clause. Implied tradeoff is query speed vs. update speed. Oracle automatically update indexes. Concatenated index max. is 16 columns.

Data types Max. columns in a table is 255. Max. Char size is 255, Long is 64K & Number is 38 digits.
Cannot Query on a long column.
Char, Varchar2 Max. size is 2000 & default is 1 byte.
Number(p,s) p is precision range 1 to 38, s is scale -84 to 127.
Long Character data of variable length upto 2GB.
Date Range from Jan 4712 BC to Dec 4712 AD.
Raw Stores Binary data (Graphics Image & Digitized Sound). Max. is 255 bytes.
Mslabel Binary format of an OS label. Used primarily with Trusted Oracle.

Order of SQL statement execution Where clause, Group By clause, Having clause, Order By clause & Select.

Transaction Transaction is defined as all changes made to the database between successive commits.

Commit Commit is an event that attempts to make data in the database identical to the data in the form. It involves writing or posting data to the database and committing data to the database. Forms check the validity of the data in fields and records during a commit. Validity check are uniqueness, consistency and db restrictions.

Posting Posting is an event that writes Inserts, Updates & Deletes in the forms to the database but not committing these transactions to the database.

Rollback Rollback causes work in the current transaction to be undone.

Savepoint Savepoint is a point within a particular transaction to which you may rollback without rolling back the entire transaction.

Set Transaction Set Transaction is to establish properties for the current transaction.

Locking Locking are mechanisms intended to prevent destructive interaction between users accessing data. Locks are used to achieve.

Consistency Consistency : Assures users that the data they are changing or viewing is not changed until the are thro' with it.

Integrity Assures database data and structures reflects all changes made to them in the correct sequence. Locks ensure data integrity and maximum concurrent access to data. Commit statement releases all locks. Types of locks are given below.
Data Locks protects data i.e. Table or Row lock.
Dictionary Locks protects the structure of database object i.e. ensures table's structure does not change for the duration of the transaction.
Internal Locks & Latches protects the internal database structures. They are automatic.
Exclusive Lock allows queries on locked table but no other activity is allowed.
Share Lock allows concurrent queries but prohibits updates to the locked tables.
Row Share allows concurrent access to the locked table but prohibits for a exclusive table lock.
Row Exclusive same as Row Share but prohibits locking in shared mode.
Shared Row Exclusive locks the whole table and allows users to look at rows in the table but prohibit others from locking the table in share or updating them.
Share Update are synonymous with Row Share.

DeadlockDeadlock is a unique situation in a multi user system that causes two or more users to wait indefinitely for a locked resource. First user needs a resource locked by the second user and the second user needs a resource locked by the first user. To avoid dead locks, avoid using exclusive table lock and if using, use it in the same sequence and use Commit frequently to release locks.

Mutating TableMutating Table is a table that is currently being modified by an Insert, Update or Delete statement. Constraining Table is a table that a triggering statement might need to read either directly for a SQL statement or indirectly for a declarative Referential Integrity constraints. Pseudo Columns behaves like a column in a table but are not actually stored in the table. E.g. Currval, Nextval, Rowid, Rownum, Level etc.

SQL*LoaderSQL*Loader is a product for moving data in external files into tables in an Oracle database. To load data from external files into an Oracle database, two types of input must be provided to SQL*Loader : the data itself and the control file. The control file describes the data to be loaded. It describes the Names and format of the data files, Specifications for loading data and the Data to be loaded (optional). Invoking the loader sqlload username/password controlfilename <options>.