14 PL/SQL Package DBMS_XMLSTORE

Overview of PL/SQL Package DBMS_XMLSTORE

PL/SQL package DBMS_XMLSTORE enables DML operations to be performed on relational tables using XML. It takes a canonical XML mapping similar to that produced by package DBMS_XMLGEN; converts it to object-relational constructs; and then inserts, updates or deletes the corresponding value from relational tables.

The functionality of package DBMS_XMLSTORE is similar to that of package DBMS_XMLSAVE, which is part of the Oracle XML SQL Utility (XSU). There are, however, some important differences:

• DBMS_XMLSTORE is written in C and compiled into the kernel, so it provides higher performance.

• DBMS_XMLSTORE uses the Simple API for XML (SAX) to parse the input XML document, so it has higher scalability and lower memory requirements. DBMS_XMLSTORE lets you input XMLType data, in addition to CLOB and VARCHAR.

• PL/SQL functions insertXML, updateXML, and deleteXML, which are also present in package DBMS_XMLSAVE, have been enhanced in package DBMS_XMLSTORE to take XMLType instances in addition to CLOB values and strings. This provides for better integration with Oracle XML DB functionality.

Using Package DBMS_XMLSTORE

To use PL/SQL package DBMS_XMLSTORE, follow these steps:

1. Create a context handle by calling function DBMS_XMLSTORE.newContext and supplying it with the table name to use for the DML operations. For case sensitivity, double-quote (") the string that is passed to the function.

   By default, XML documents are expected to use the <ROW> tag to identify rows. This is the same default used by package DBMS_XMLGEN when generating XML data. You can use function setRowTag to override this behavior.

2. For inserts, to improve performance you can specify the list of columns to insert by calling procedure DBMS_XMLSTORE.setUpdateColumn for each column. The default behavior (if you do not specify the list of columns) is to insert values for each column whose corresponding element is present in the XML document.

3. For updates, use function DBMS_XMLSTORE.setKeyColumn to specify one or more (pseudo-) key columns, which are used to specify the rows to update. You do this in the WHERE clause of a SQL UPDATE statement. The columns that you specify need not be keys of the table, but together they must uniquely specify the rows to update.

   For example, in table employees, column employee_id uniquely identifies rows (it is a key of the table). If the XML document that you use to update the table contains element <EMPLOYEE_ID>2176</EMPLOYEE_ID>, then the rows where employee_id equals 2176 are updated.

   To improve performance, you can also specify the list of update columns using DBMS_XMLSTORE.setUpdateColumn. The default behavior is to update all of the columns in the row(s) identified by setKeyColumn whose corresponding elements are present in the XML document.

4. For deletions you specify (pseudo-) key columns to identify the row(s) to delete. You do this the same way you specify rows to update — see step 3.

5. Provide a document to PL/SQL function insertXML, updateXML, or deleteXML. You can repeat this step to update several XML documents.

6. Close the context by calling function DBMS_XMLSTORE.closeContext.

Inserting with DBMS_XMLSTORE

To insert an XML document into a table or view, you supply the table or view name and the document. DBMS_XMLSTORE parses the document and then creates an INSERT statement into which it binds all the values. By default, DBMS_XMLSTORE inserts values into all the columns represented by elements in the XML document.

Example 14-1 uses DBM_XMLSTORE to insert the information for two new employees into the employees table. The information is provided in the form of XML data.

SELECT employee_id AS EMP_ID, salary, hire_date, job_id, email, last_name
  FROM employees WHERE department_id = 30;

EMP_ID     SALARY HIRE_DATE JOB_ID     EMAIL       LAST_NAME
------ ---------- --------- ---------- ---------- ----------
   114      11000 07-DEC-94 PU_MAN     DRAPHEAL     Raphaely
   115       3100 18-MAY-95 PU_CLERK   AKHOO            Khoo
   116       2900 24-DEC-97 PU_CLERK   SBAIDA          Baida
   117       2800 24-JUL-97 PU_CLERK   STOBIAS        Tobias
   118       2600 15-NOV-98 PU_CLERK   GHIMURO        Himuro
   119       2500 10-AUG-99 PU_CLERK   KCOLMENA   Colmenares

6 rows selected.

DECLARE
  insCtx DBMS_XMLSTORE.ctxType;
  rows NUMBER;
  xmlDoc CLOB :=
    '<ROWSET>
       <ROW num="1">
         <EMPLOYEE_ID>920</EMPLOYEE_ID>
         <SALARY>1800</SALARY>
         <DEPARTMENT_ID>30</DEPARTMENT_ID>
         <HIRE_DATE>17-DEC-2002</HIRE_DATE>
         <LAST_NAME>Strauss</LAST_NAME>
         <EMAIL>JSTRAUSS</EMAIL>
         <JOB_ID>ST_CLERK</JOB_ID>
       </ROW>
       <ROW>
         <EMPLOYEE_ID>921</EMPLOYEE_ID>
         <SALARY>2000</SALARY>
         <DEPARTMENT_ID>30</DEPARTMENT_ID>
         <HIRE_DATE>31-DEC-2004</HIRE_DATE>
         <LAST_NAME>Jones</LAST_NAME>
         <EMAIL>EJONES</EMAIL>
         <JOB_ID>ST_CLERK</JOB_ID>
       </ROW>
     </ROWSET>';
BEGIN
  insCtx := DBMS_XMLSTORE.newContext('HR.EMPLOYEES'); -- Get saved context
  DBMS_XMLSTORE.clearUpdateColumnList(insCtx); -- Clear the update settings
 
  -- Set the columns to be updated as a list of values 
  DBMS_XMLSTORE.setUpdateColumn(insCtx, 'EMPLOYEE_ID'); 
  DBMS_XMLSTORE.setUpdateColumn(insCtx, 'SALARY'); 
  DBMS_XMLSTORE.setUpdateColumn(insCtx, 'HIRE_DATE');
  DBMS_XMLSTORE.setUpdateColumn(insCtx, 'DEPARTMENT_ID'); 
  DBMS_XMLSTORE.setUpdateColumn(insCtx, 'JOB_ID');
  DBMS_XMLSTORE.setUpdateColumn(insCtx, 'EMAIL');
  DBMS_XMLSTORE.setUpdateColumn(insCtx, 'LAST_NAME');

  -- Insert the doc. 
  rows := DBMS_XMLSTORE.insertXML(insCtx, xmlDoc);
  DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line(rows || ' rows inserted.');

  -- Close the context
  DBMS_XMLSTORE.closeContext(insCtx); 
END;
/

2 rows inserted.
 
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

SELECT employee_id AS EMP_ID, salary, hire_date, job_id, email, last_name
  FROM employees WHERE department_id = 30;

EMP_ID     SALARY HIRE_DATE JOB_ID     EMAIL       LAST_NAME
------ ---------- --------- ---------- ---------- ----------
   114      11000 07-DEC-94 PU_MAN     DRAPHEAL     Raphaely
   115       3100 18-MAY-95 PU_CLERK   AKHOO            Khoo
   116       2900 24-DEC-97 PU_CLERK   SBAIDA          Baida
   117       2800 24-JUL-97 PU_CLERK   STOBIAS        Tobias
   118       2600 15-NOV-98 PU_CLERK   GHIMURO        Himuro
   119       2500 10-AUG-99 PU_CLERK   KCOLMENA   Colmenares
   920       1800 17-DEC-02 ST_CLERK   STRAUSS       Strauss
   921       2000 31-DEC-04 ST_CLERK   EJONES          Jones

8 rows selected.

Updating with DBMS_XMLSTORE

To update (modify) existing data using package DBMS_XMLSTORE, you must specify which rows to update. In SQL, you would do that using a WHERE clause in an UPDATE statement. With DBMS_XMLSTORE, you do it by calling procedure setKeyColumn once for each of the columns that are used collectively to identify the row.

You can think of this set of columns as acting like a set of key columns: together, they specify a unique row to be updated. However, the columns that you use (with setKeyColumn) need not be keys of the table — as long as they uniquely specify a row, they can be used with calls to setKeyColumn.

Example 14-2 uses DBM_XMLSTORE to update information. Assuming that the first name for employee number 188 is incorrectly recorded as Kelly, this example corrects that first name to Pat. Since column employee_id is a primary key for table employees, a single call to setKeyColumn specifying column employee_id is sufficient to identify a unique row for updating.

SELECT employee_id, first_name FROM employees WHERE employee_id = 188;

EMPLOYEE_ID FIRST_NAME
----------- ----------
        188 Kelly
 
1 row selected.

DECLARE
  updCtx DBMS_XMLSTORE.ctxType; 
  rows NUMBER;
  xmlDoc CLOB :=
    '<ROWSET>
       <ROW>
         <EMPLOYEE_ID>188</EMPLOYEE_ID>
         <FIRST_NAME>Pat</FIRST_NAME>
       </ROW>
     </ROWSET>';
BEGIN
   updCtx := DBMS_XMLSTORE.newContext('HR.EMPLOYEES'); -- get the context
   DBMS_XMLSTORE.clearUpdateColumnList(updCtx);        -- clear update settings

   -- Specify that column employee_id is a "key" to identify the row to update.
   DBMS_XMLSTORE.setKeyColumn(updCtx, 'EMPLOYEE_ID'); 
   rows := DBMS_XMLSTORE.updateXML(updCtx, xmlDoc);    -- update the table
   DBMS_XMLSTORE.closeContext(updCtx);                 -- close the context
END;
/

SELECT employee_id, first_name FROM employees WHERE employee_id = 188;

EMPLOYEE_ID FIRST_NAME
----------- ----------
        188 Pat
 
1 row selected.

The following UPDATE statement is equivalent to the use of DBM_XMLSTORE in Example 14-2:

UPDATE hr.employees SET first_name = 'Pat' WHERE employee_id = 188; 

Deleting with DBMS_XMLSTORE

Deletions are treated similarly to updates: you specify the key or pseudo-key columns that identify the rows to delete.

SELECT employee_id FROM employees WHERE employee_id = 188;
 
EMPLOYEE_ID
-----------
        188
 
1 row selected.
 
DECLARE
  delCtx DBMS_XMLSTORE.ctxType;
  rows NUMBER;
  xmlDoc CLOB :=
    '<ROWSET>
       <ROW>
         <EMPLOYEE_ID>188</EMPLOYEE_ID>
         <DEPARTMENT_ID>50</DEPARTMENT_ID>
       </ROW>
     </ROWSET>';
BEGIN
  delCtx  := DBMS_XMLSTORE.newContext('HR.EMPLOYEES');
  DBMS_XMLSTORE.setKeyColumn(delCtx, 'EMPLOYEE_ID');
  rows := DBMS_XMLSTORE.deleteXML(delCtx, xmlDoc);
  DBMS_XMLSTORE.closeContext(delCtx);
END;
/
 
SELECT employee_id FROM employees WHERE employee_id = 188;
 
no rows selected.